Hellsing X: Evolution
by Captain Lycan
Summary: What if Mystique had escaped Magneto's Lab with Kurt? What if she had ironically enough found refuge with Humanity's deadliest defenders? Years later as the Brotherhood and the X-Men begin their struggle Raven and her children  Full Summary Within
1. Chapter 1

**Hellsing X: Evolution**

**Plot: **What if Mystique had escaped Magneto's Lab with Kurt? What if she had ironically enough found refuge with Humanity's deadliest defenders? Years later as the Brotherhood and the X-Men begin their struggle Raven and her children are sent in to deal with the threat.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing...**

**Chapter One- Divergence **

**Hellsing Manor outside of London…**

Two people walked down the hallway of the sprawling Victorian Manor. One was an elderly butler who at first glance seemed like nothing more than a harmless servant. The butler's steps were slow and his pale blue eyes glance lazily at her exerting no more effort than needed. Raven though knew appearances could be deceiving and few could prove this better than Walter C. Dornez.

A trained eye would notice that the butler movements while slow showed no signs of being impaired by his old age. Giving him a sidewise glance Raven noted the Walter's eyes were sharp and alert. To sum it all up don't screw with the butler, of course Raven already knew that. She had known Walter when he was fourteen; a boy barely old enough to shave who could slaughter throngs of enemy troops without batting an eyelash. Was it any wonder he'd been nicknamed the Angel of Death? _"Like I'm one to talk."_

Unlike the butler Mystique looked every bit as formidable as her reputation implied. Her deep blue skin, amber eyes, and impossibly red hair certainly caused most to give her a wide berth. Raven Darkholme herself had over the century she worked as a private detective, intelligence operative, a Special Forces soldier, and a professional assassin.

Most of those she had worked for knew her under one of her cover names, the man she was about to visit was of the few people alive who knew her as Raven Darkholme. She had come here as a last resort on Destiny's advice, it made more sense the more she thought about it. Magneto knew nothing about this place, nor did Xavier. That knowledge did wonders for the Shapeshifter's nerves as they made their way through the manor. This was the home of the Order of Royal Protestant Knights; an organization originally formed to battle supernatural threats to the British Empire and to a lesser extent humanity as a whole. However in times of extreme national crisis the Order could also be deployed against other threats; as the Nazis found out in the Second World War. Raven was surprised she hadn't thought of coming here first.

As Eric hounded her and her child through the Bavarian Alps she had run scenarios through her head. Going to Xavier had been one of them, a testament to her desperate frame of mind. She had little doubt he would have taken her in, but that would've been one of the first places Magneto would've looked. She knew far too many of his dirty little secrets to allow it though and Mystique refused to count on the bald hippie to protect her and Kurt. She had numerous safe houses across Europe but Erik knew about far too many of them. Mystique ground her teeth, _"I should've been far more careful with what I shared with him. Hell I should've slit his throat in his sleep!"_

"Is something the matter Ms. Darkholme?" Walter asked casually while polishing his monocle, "I detected a hint of blood lust in the air." Raven lowered her head; normally she would've had much better control over her emotions but the stress of everything that had transpired over the past two weeks had taken its toll. Being chased through wilderness, scavenging and sneaking across the countryside until Irene could locate her via her clairvoyance. All with her infant son in tow; at least he was safe with Destiny at the present. Hopefully striking a deal with Arthur Hellsing will secure her and Kurt's future.

"My apologies Walter, I haven't had a good time of it lately." she said rubbing her temple, "How is Arthur these days? If my memory serves this isn't the way to his office." Raven said glancing around; the butler maintained his poker face but a bit of emotion could heard in his voice,

"Sir Hellsing is… a trifle bit under the weather." When Walter opened the door for her she understood a great many things including why people claimed the English were masters of the understatement. Arthur Hellsing appeared to literally be on his death bed, his once strong, handsome features were aged, gaunt, and bearded. His hair once a silky platinum blonde was now a lifeless white. His eyes though hadn't lost any of their fire, if anything his blazing sapphire orbs seemed brighter than ever,

"_Like a light bulb about to go…" _She refused to finish the morbid line of thought. Ignoring the distrustful looks Arthur's bodyguards were giving her she walked up to his bedside, "Arthur it's good to see you again." She said with warmth that would have shocked most who knew her. The Englishmen sat up despite the protests of his guards and the nurse,

"I'm not going to let something as trifle as the long shadows of death prevent me from giving a lovely woman a proper greeting." He took her hand and kissed it gently,

"A true gentlemen till the end." Raven said with a seductive smile, Arthur gave her a grin of his own, one that brought a good many women into his bedroom. Mystique had been one of the few who resisted the knight's charms. The shapeshifter suspected that was what had allowed her climb so high in the noble's esteem.

"You're probably the only woman from my younger days who would think of me as something other than a scoundrel." He said wryly, before sighing and lying back down, "Looking back I'm actually rather ashamed of myself. How many broken hearts did I leave behind? How many marriages were left in ruins because of me?"

"I didn't think you'd be one to have regrets." Raven said in surprise, Arthur let out laugh that quickly became a coughing fit. He pulled his hand away from his face revealing he had coughed up blood,

"Well that's not good." He said calmly, a nurse handed a moist rag. He sat up once more and turned to look Raven in the eye, "All men have regrets Raven, it's when a man reaches the end of his life are they laid bare for him to see. Mine are legion." He said somberly, "When I look back at the war I find myself wondering if I could've saved more lives, if there had been ways I could've ended the insanity sooner. In other aspects of my life I find myself wondering if I should have tried having a family sooner or ar least I should have tried to quit smoking, I might've been able to see Integra grow up."

"You have a daughter?" She said with a raised eyebrow. Arthur Hellsing womanizer extraordinaire, the man who had once frequented every brothel and bar from London to Laos had a daughter. Mystique most of the time considered herself an agnostic but at the moment wondered if there was a God with a perverse sense of justice out there.

"Laugh if must Raven, most women who knew me would." Arthur grinned and chuckled,

"I couldn't laugh at you over that," Raven said softly appreciating the bit of levity. "I…I actually just had a child of my own, a baby boy." The Englishman glanced appreciatively at her athletic figure for the briefest of moments,

"Women of the world hate and envy you." He eyes went from humorous to kindly, "I wish you had contacted me, I would've sent a gift for him, what's his name?"

"Kurt," She said softly, this was where the conversation would probably start to take a more serious tone, "He's actually why I've come here: I trusted someone I shouldn't have and Kurt paid the price for my mistake."

"Is Kurt hurt or ill? I know a few doctors who don't ask questions." Arthur offered his tone calm but his eyes now alert. Asking for help wasn't something Mystique was known for, plus Arthur was fully aware she had her own list of contacts for such an emergency.

"He's fine, as well as he can be." She said quietly, "When I found out I was going to have him I was… both scared and exited."

"Such feelings are perfectly normal in an expectant parent."

"Yes," Raven said as she picked up a bible from Arthur's nightstand, "Fear was the thing I felt the most though. I begged and pleaded with whatever higher power would listen for two things: That Kurt would be born with a more human appearance then my own and that I could secure him a future worth having." Her voice cracked ever slightly. Raven took a moment to gain control over her emotions, "Both those hopes have been taken from me. So now I come to you for help, to give us protection, to give Kurt whatever future you can. In exchange I offer your family my services once more." Raven met his gaze as best she could, not an easy feat considering how unnerving she found his eyes. Mystique's mind couldn't read easily by way of psychic or mystical ability, yet she had always felt as if those sapphire orbs looked into her very soul, _"Just like Abraham's." _

"Raven," he said gravely, "while your request is not unreasonable I would like to know what I would be protecting him from." Raven had hoped she wouldn't have to go into the details. If she told him about Magneto she would essentially make herself a Judas to her entire race. She felt still he was mutantkind's best defense against humanity; Arthur would have him hunted down and killed like a dog if she told him what Erik was planning. His organization was one of the few qualified to do it, "Please tell me you're not trying to protect the one who hurt your son." His tone was more than a little disappointed. Raven glanced at the body guards warily, Arthur followed her gaze and sighed, "Gents kindly ask Walter to step in here and get your selves cup of tea." Taking the hint they left albeit hesitantly, a moment later Walter stepped in, "Now whatever you say will not leave this room unless my responsibilities require otherwise."

The shapeshifter felt conflicted as she weighed her options. Raven had served many masters in her lifetime, and the Hellsings we're certainly among the better. Arthur had always been hard but ultimately fair, and he'd never reneged on an agreement. Magneto on the other hand had betrayed her in the worst way possible. She clenched her fists in rage as she thought about what Eric had done to her son. How he had tried his best to kill them both when she had fled, _"I would have been your most faithful if you had let me." _Raven thought coldly to herself, "Lensherr, Erik Lensherr also known as Magneto."

"Mutant I presume?" Arthur's tone was calm but Raven could see the look in his eye. It was the look he wore as he worked to crush the Third Reich from the shadows. Alcohol, tobacco, and easy women all vices he had enjoyed, but having an enemy he could crush though was the ultimate rush, "Tell me everything."

"Yes I had started to work for him four years ago…" And so she told him everything, she had left out Xavier and his little school hoping that little omission wouldn't come back to bite her. Walter had remained completely impassive throughout; Arthur was silent for the most part expect for the occasional question. When she was done the Englishman was silent for some time before speaking when he did his tone was calm and measured,

"I'm rather disappointed in you Raven." Arthur's eyes bore into hers; a feat not many people were capable of without flinching, "From what you've told me this Magneto is no different from the very mad men you helped me oppose: Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin. You seem to have thought him a savior when clearly he is a tyrant seeking a throne. You should've known better Raven; you fooled yourself into seeing what you wanted to see." His words cut her deeply because she knew them to be true; the emotions she had held in check erupted forth:

"I WANTED A WORLD WHERE MY SON WOULDN'T HAVE TO HIDE WHO HE IS! WE'RE NOT MONSTERS! WHY SHOULD WE HAVE TO HIDE AS THOUGH WE ARE?" Tears stung her eyes as she took a few deep breaths. Mystique felt a comforting hand on her arm. It was Arthur's, his eyes were softer.

"It is our duty as parents to give our children better lives than the ones we lived. Use your head though; the crows and the cockroaches are likely to be the only victors in a war between the two branches of humanity. " Arthur's tone was slow and sagely, a strange contrast the firebrand Raven had known during the Second World War, "At the moment only a handful of government agencies are aware of the existence of mutants. People on the whole though are unaware, and I'm afraid that's a status quo that needs to be maintained. I'll be the first to say it's not fair. It is the great failing of the human race: we fear that which perceive to be different. One day we may overcome it but until then try not hate us for it." He pleaded and leaned back against the headboard of his bed. It pained Mystique to see him like this; so old so tired. Aging was something she didn't have to worry about thanks to her shapeshifting abilities. The ones she cared for (admittedly a rather small group at best) wouldn't be so lucky, perhaps one day she would be standing by Kurt's bedside as he was passing away. Her stomach twisted at the thought,

"_All the more reason to give him the best life I can. Let Erik and Charles bloody each other's knuckles for an eternity, I no longer have the luxury of playing revolutionary. Perhaps I can still find a way to advance mutantkind's interests from within the system; it's no less risky than what I was involved with before though."_ From the smile on Arthur's face Raven suspected her newfound resolve must have shown on her's, "I'll give you all the information I have on Magneto as long my earlier requests are met." She said with a cold grin on her face

"Very well then Raven, I'm assuming you'll want Walter to extract your pound of flesh from the thug?" A cocky smirk spread across his face as bit of his old fire returned.

"Walter would be a poor choice; Magneto would eviscerate him with his own wires. Alucard would be a much better match for him." She pointed out calmly, on the inside she was gleeful at the thought the Hellsing family's pet going after Magnus.

"Is he that powerful Raven?"

"He may be one of the most powerful mutants on the planet. I thought I had explained that quite clearly." Arthur nodded gravely,

"Yes you did I'll have to make some special arrangements regarding Alucard. We'll also have to introduce you to Integra; I've told her of you so there shouldn't any problems. You and Richard," Raven mentally grimaced at the mention of Arthur's younger brother, "will be her advisors in all matters."

"Of course Arthur, I'm certain things will go as smoothly as possible."

…**...**

**Somewhere in Austria, near the German border two weeks later…**

The woman known as Destiny bounced young Kurt Darkholme on her knee, "Your mommy's coming home today." She told the small blue furred child, "Are you excited about that?" Kurt was too busy trying to catch his own tail to notice her. Irene Adler as she was known to only a few was still closer to thirty then forty with close cropped coppery hair. She wore a pair of overly dark sunglasses to cover up her white eyes. Though technically blind thanks her clairvoyance the mutant seer managed well enough on her own just fine.

The two were out in the garden on a stone bench. The house belonged to her, it was nestled out in the countryside with few neighbors thus there was little risk of anyone seeing the demonic looking child. Destiny stroked the boy's hair affectionately with a somber expression on her face, "Your life will be hard little one," She told him, he glanced up at her with yellow eyes, "But you won't be alone Kurt. You'll have your mother and of course Auntie Irene to look out for you." A car could be heard pulling into the driveway, "It looks like your mother's home why don't we go and say hi?" The baby held up his captured tail for Destiny to see, "You are triumphant as I had foreseen." She said in a faux serious tone as she scooped him up.

Raven shifted into her true form as soon as she entered the house. Irene was standing there waiting for her. She held Kurt in her arms, "I tried to contact to you as soon as I foresaw what Richard was going to do." The seer said apologetically,

"Don't apologize I always suspected Dickey Hellsing was a few rounds short of a full metal jacket. The bastard had apparently planned to set me up as his fall guy if he had succeeded in killing Integra." Raven said wearily, "Thankfully Alucard put a stop to that, apparently Richard didn't know anything about him." The shapeshifter sneered, her expression softened though when she gazed at her son. Mystique gently took Kurt feeling the weight of the world lift from her shoulders, "How's my little man?" Kurt said nothing and held up his tail which elicited a raised eyebrow from his mother, "He's holding his tail is something wrong with it?"

"No he's been trying to catch it all week since realized he had one." The seer explained, "I'm going to pick some vegetables from the garden. I was thinking of a nice salad for dinner." Destiny said as she stepped out

"That sounds lovely dear," Raven called out. She then glanced down at her son "Well Kurt you've put your mother through a lot of trouble." She told him with mock severity, "But your worth it my son," Raven told him and kissed him on his forehead.

…

Mystique watched the sun set from the kitchen window; they had just finished cleaning up from dinner. Kurt was playing in the living room with some blocks, "Both Arthur and Richard gone, it's the end of an era. What does the future hold Destiny?" Irene was silent for a moment before answering,

"There is much strife in the years ahead, but I believe things can be bent to our advantage. If Magneto survives his encounter with the No Life King he will go on to become a great threat to global stability. Rather or not mutantkind will benefit from his actions is uncertain. Even if he escapes there are others that will fill the void. I see HYDRA gathering strength in a few years and it would seem there are Millennium survivors among their ranks. " Irene rested her head on Raven's shoulder and wrapped her arms the shapeshifter's waist,

"Millennium?" Mystique said in surprise, "I thought they were all wiped out when we tipped off Hellsing about their base in South America back in Fifty-Two."

"Only three survived: the mute, the scientist, and an androgynous child with cat ears. You'll need to tell Integra about them, these are worries for another day though." Together they watched the sun go down with both hope and fear regarding what tomorrow would bring.

**Omake 01- Deadpool's Notes:**

"Hi folks I'm Wade Wilson here with Captain Lycan; author of several unfinished crossover stories mostly revolving around WITCH and Sailor Moon,"

"Stick with the script Wade or I'll replace you with Brian from Family Guy."

"Fine then," He groaned, "For those you who wondering this story is not connected to Hellsing X, think of this as AU, this story is more of a sandbox for the writer to do whatever he wants with the characters with little regard for the consequences. I for one think it's going great the sappy scene between Destiny and Mystique really fits in with the romance of Hellsing."

"What the hell are you talking about? Did you read those volumes of Hellsing I lent you?" Deadpool spread his hands,

"Who needs canon when you have fanfiction?"

"Fanfiction doesn't always paint an accurate picture of the source material. Why don't you tell me what you thinkHellsing is about?"

"It's about a British broad who has a vampire servant who's also her secret lover, theirs is a romance so syrupy that even Twilight fangirls would gag at it and could have theme music written by Justin Beiber. There are also these Catholic guys down in Rome called the Iscariots. They're run by this douche named Maxwell who wants Integra all to himself; working for him are these two lesbians (one German, one Asian how hot is that?) and Father Anderson who's either Scottish or Irish and secretly dreams of steamy man on man action with Alucard. Once in a while you hear something about a group of Nazis in South America usually involving how this fat Major secretly yearns for Integra. There's also this sex-addicted Nazi catboy-"

"Okay that's enough Wade go plot revenge against the creators of Wolverine: Origins."

"Yes sir! You bastards shall pay! Killing off the crimson-eyed douchebag in the third movie was one thing but maki-" what followed was both incomprehensible and inconsequential.

"Alright folks I'm trying something different here, as Wade said this is mainly for my own amusement. But since does involve Hellsing it will have those three things that make Hellsing great: musings on the difference between men and monsters, the beauty of mortality, and last but far from least: action, bloodshed, and violence! There will be battles and even a character death or two. But don't mistake that for a lack of plot. Things will get dark and dangerous for our heroes soon enough and there will even be romance (though the particulars are bound by my whims HAHA). Yes Destiny and Mystique are a couple in this story as they were in the comics."

"On the whole this will focus the most dysfunctional family (imho) in the marvel universe: Mystique, Nightcrawler, and Rogue. Ironically enough they'll actually be fairly tightknit in this story, not the first to have such an idea but I hope I can make it unique. I'll also throw in characters from various comics and manga in at different points but fear not I'll make it fit. Anything you want to add Wade?"

"Sure thing CL, constructive criticism and suggestions are welcome flames are not. If you have a problem with the pairings in this story and leave a nasty review regarding said pairing I'll show up at your house with duct tape, a school girl uniform, and my first edition copy of the Necronomnicon."

"Oh if you want a serious take on Hellsing and the X-Men going at it I vow that such a tale is coming. Or you can read my other Hellsing X story were the X-Men go up against Millennium."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: If you recognize it I don't own it**

**Chapter Two- Highway to Hellfire**

**Somewhere in the Bavarian Alps, Germany…**

The castle was visible in the distance, silhouetted in the moonlight. A figure dressed in red gazed at the ancient structure from the back of an old pickup truck, "Isn't this an ironic reversal?" He said in amusement as the vehicle got ever closer. The tall, menacing stranger couldn't help but be amused by this whole affair. He was on his way to eliminate a mutant terrorist; not fellow vampires or a demonic cult or some other manner of supernatural being. The occult symbols on his stainless white gloves seemed to glow an unholy shade of red at the thought of battling such an unusual opponent, "Peasant halt." he told the ensorcelled driver,

"Jawol mein Herr." The driver said in a disturbingly cheerful voice, a side effect of vampiric hypnosis. The truck came to a stop,

"Danke." Said the seven foot tall vampire as he leapt of the truck, with a wave of the hand the Hellsing hitman sent the driver away. The truck drove off in a haphazard fashion on the narrow mountain road, "Perhaps I should have had him wait until he fully recovered from the effects of the mind control." He mused while scratching his chin, but waved it off, "No matter, his children hated him and his wife was going throw him out anyways." He had sifted through the peasant's memories to pass the time. Frankly the vampire would've ended the man's life out of pity if Integra hadn't forbidden him from killing civilians. It was his new master's shapeshifting advisor who had reminded Integra to include that bit of fine print, _"Damn you Darkholme."_

He strolled through the wilderness, garbed in dark red Victorian-era clothing and a matching fedora. His orange sunglasses seemed to glow in the moonlight. He had taken many names during the half a millennium he had walked the Earth, the Hellsings called him Alucard. Wolves howled in the distance to his unending delight, the children of the night were woefully absent in England. He stretched his mind out toward the canines but discovered someone was already controlling them, "So this is what Raven spoke of," Apparently Magneto had implanted microchips inside the brains of wolves and could control their behavior via certain electromagnetic frequencies, "technology truly has advanced since I last walked the night." Wresting control of the wolves from Magneto would be childishly simple for a master vampire like him. But that would've alerted Magneto to his presence and for now he wanted to enjoy his walk.

….

Within the dark and dreary castle Erik Lensherr was in the process of relocating all his lab equipment. Raven would return eventually to seek revenge as surely as the sun would rise tomorrow. Finding someone to replace her would be problematic to say the least but the information the experiments had yielded was very much worth it, "Hey boss!" A feral sounding individual snarled from behind, "Sensors picked up something heading our way and my gut's tellin me it ain't another wayward lumber jack." Magneto's green eyes narrowed, Raven would've never let herself get detected in such a manner, "Your instincts are seldom wrong in such matters Sabertooth. Deal with our guest while I save as much of the research as possible."

"Gladly." The animalistic mutant said with a smile and left to greet the intruder.

…

The man in red walked across the drawbridge at a slow and leisurely pace. With the exception of his orange sunglasses which seemed to glow of their own accord his entire face was enshrouded by darkness. Someone was waiting for him when got to the bridge; he was as tall as Alucard was and twice as muscular. His long sandy brown hair went down past his shoulders. His animalistic features twisted into a malicious grin, an action Alucard mirrored. Like his glasses Alucard's fangs had a strange luminous quality to them.

The two were actually rather well acquainted with one another; Sabertooth had worked for Hellsing during the forties and fifties before heading to the CIA. In their own twisted way they were fond of each other. The vampire tipped his hat to Sabertooth, "Victor, how delightful to see you again." His tone was pleasant enough,

"Vlad," The mutant replied in an almost civil tone and whistled. Victor Creed was the one person allowed to call Alucard by his birth name, "Raven must be pissed with the boss if she squealed to Artie. Who'd ever thought that one would be so fucking maternal?" Alucard chuckled,

"Well there aren't many mothers who take having their infant child experimented on well." The vampire pointed out, Sabertooth shrugged indifferently,

"So how's Artie these days?" For the briefest of moments something passed over Alucard's features.

"He has gone the way of mortals." Sabertooth's eyes widened in surprise

"He croaked? Damn I thought he'd just go on forever. Shame the guy wasn't half bad for a human, he always paid on time and the work was never dull." A glimmer came to Sabertooth's eye as memories of shutting down the Nazi super soldier project came back.

"Indeed," Alucard said somberly as he removed his glasses revealing his glowing red eyes. A twisted smile split his face, "You know I have to kill you?"

"I know ya have to try Vlad, but remember I'm not some punk ya can freak out with your hocus pocus. I'm as much a monster as you so let's skip the bullshit and get to the carnage!" Sabertooth bared his fangs and flexed his claws. Alucard's hat was gone his ivory face now visible for all to see, the No Life King laughed like a madman while Sabertooth roared. They charged one another with inhuman speed Sabertooth was the first the draw blood. He had ducked at the last second and slashed Alucard's stomach with his claws disemboweling the vampire. Creed then whirled around and drove his knee into the Hellsing hitman's ribs. Alucard fell to the ground cackling, his deep and inhuman laughter echoed throughout the wilderness. The horrific wounds the vampire had sustained were healing rapidly,

"I had forgotten what pain felt like during my long slumber." His sounded elated, "Thank you; it makes me feel so aliiiiiiiive!" He hissed as his hair shifted into a mass of snake-like shadows. Alucard turned to face Sabertooth, who was crouched down ready to pounce the vampire as though he was an oversized bird. The savage mutant raised a sandy eyebrow at the twisted expression on the Nosferatu's face,

"Are you getting a fucking boner or something?" Sabertooth growled in irritation as a flicker of movement in the distance caught his eye: several metal spheres flying away from the castle, _"He'd better be coming back for me!" _Unfortunately a battle with Alucard is not the best place to get distracted for even the briefest of moments. In a display of speed made all the more impressive by his massive size Alucard charged the mutant. Sabertooth leapt back hoping to put some distance between himself and the Nosferatu.

Alucard rushed forward with his tongue hanging out, saliva running out of his mouth as though he was a rabid animal, _"I thought it'd be the runt who finished me not Count Fagula!" _Sabertooth was saved by Jesus, well actually a large crucifix that had left behind by the castle's original owners. The religious relic intercepted the vampire and then warped and wrapped itself around the unholy creature. A figure garbed in crimson armor and a flowing purple cape descended from above. With a simple gesture the man who thought himself a messianic figure constricted the Hellsing vampire with the giant crucifix.

"Who is this Sabertooth?" Magneto demanded as the vampire found himself being constricted by the cross's burning metal embrace. He had watched the battle briefly before intervening was curious about the would-be-assassin. For starters Erik was fairly certain he wasn't a mutant, Sabertooth had on occasion claimed that he had done battle with beings of supernatural origin. Since he was currently holding a pale skinned, fanged man hostage with cross Lensherr was a little more inclined to listen than usual.

"His name is Alucard, basically a vampire who does for the British government what I do for you. Long story short he's immortal and at least three kinds of pyscho." Said vampire chuckled,

"Oh Victor I'm blushing like a maiden during her first time." The vampire then laughed despite being burned by the cross, "You criticizing my sanity reminds of the age old proverb about the pot and the kettle. Now I desire to see if the vaunted Homo Superior live up to their name." A single red focused on the Master of Magnetism before the vampire exploded into a flurry of bats. The swarm re-solidified down on the drawbridge, the vampire looked up at Lensherr with his hellfire eyes. Magneto addressed the vampire with no fear as it re-solidified itself into a more "human" shape.

"So the war has already begun, I confess my amusement at the sapiens weapon of choice. Unable to face that we are the future they attack us a monstrosity from the depths of the past." Magneto's tone was condescending, the vampire made a mental note to break the fool's ego before devouring him, "I shall condemn you to the ash heap history where you belong monster." Erik declared as various pieces of machinery flew from the castle and began orbiting around him like planets to a sun.

"Your arrogance amuses me, perhaps I'll show you why out of all the monsters that have stalked this Earth my kind seem to have left the deepest scars in the psyche of your human cousins." The vampire made an arcane gesture with his hands as the symbols on his glove glowed with an unholy red light, "Releasing control art restriction to level three, level two, level one." His voice though barely above a whisper could be heard all around, "Situation A, the Cromwell approval is now in effect. Hold release until the target is silenced." Alucard's entire form shifted into shadowy protoplasm covered in red eyes of every shape and size. Being a closet fan of Horror and Sci-Fi literature Lensherr likened it to the Shoggoth from the writings of H.P Lovecraft. It was another little known fact but he did possess (albeit limited) telepathic abilities. Nowhere near Xavier's level but just enough to sense the inhuman bloodlust emanating from the Nosferatu. The scenario was actually rather appealing to Magneto, he felt himself a representation of order and logic being pitted against the embodiment of insanity.

A pair of monstrous dog heads emerged from the mass snarling and grinning at Magneto. The various metal objects surrounding the Master of Magnetism began warping and shifting into an almost liquid state. Like a single cell organism splitting in two part of the shifting liquid separated from the mass and was molding into the shape of a large rotary saw. The seriated disc was launched at high speed toward the two-headed hell hound. It cleaved the demonic canine in two sending thick, black blood everywhere. In a quick secession it returned a second, third, and forth time carving the best to pieces.

The eviscerated hound dissolved into swarm of crawling centipedes, "Are you truly immortal as my associate claims?" Magneto asked as he began running scenarios through his head, immortal or not there were too many unknowns when dealing with this creature, he had read his share of vampire stories but wasn't willing to gamble his life on information garnered from Penny Dreadfuls.

"There is no such thing as immortality." Alucard said as he emerged from the mass of insects wearing what appeared to be straight jacket made fine black leather, "If what your modern science says is true even the stars in heaven will eventually burn out. Death comes for us all eventually mutant, some of us just takes a little longer than others. Perhaps Death is the only truly immortal thing in the universe." The vampire mused,

"That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die." Magneto countered

"I was never a fan Lovecraft; the man was always a little too morose for my tastes. I preferred Robert E. Howard's tales of blood and battle myself. Speaking of which…" Alucard's right arm turned into a shadowy tentacle and to Magneto's surprise the vampire then flew at him. He shifted all the available metal between him and the incoming undead warrior. He molded the metal into a shield that was dense enough to withstand artillery fire. The tentacle shifted into a twelve foot lance; the No-Life-King grinned widely when it punched through the shield and impaled the Master of Magnetism. Erik spat blood; he was far from beaten and had little intention of dying today,

"I will not be defeated by a wretched cockroach like you. I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep." With that the large rotary saw cut through the shadow lance. The shield liquefied and latched on to Alucard,

"You think this can stop me Magneto!" Alucard shouted before the metal encased him like a cocoon taking an almost cigar-like shape.

"No I just intend to buy some time." His breathing was becoming labored as he struggled not to pass out. The Master of Magnetism used his powers to launch the metal prison with the force of a rocket. Once it was out of sight Erik passed out from blood loss floating twenty feet above he dropped like a rock. Sabertooth caught him though, thus saving Magneto from an untimely end.

"I always told Vlad he wasted too much time on chit chat," Sabertooth said while cautiously sniffing the air to make certain it was the real Alucard that got sent away and not one of his shadow doppelgangers. The feral mutant carried his superior back inside the castle to give him some basic medical treatment before hightailing it out of there,

"Raven will pay for this," Magneto said weakly, "I always knew there would be Quislings among our race and I long ago decided how such ramble would be dealt with." He would need allies though, Raven was the sort of multi-talented individual that was hard to replace. Thankfully he had a decent idea of where to look.

…**..**

**Hellfire Club, New York, New York, One Year Later….**

Sebastian Shaw was one of the wealthiest men on the planet, a middle-aged man with black hair tied back into a pony, mutton chops, calculating blue eyes. Garbed in an eighteenth century frock coat he looked more like an aristocrat from a bygone era then a modern day business man. He also happened to be a mutant and a high ranking member of the Hellfire Club. A secret society that at its highest echelons desired nothing more than world domination, a Dan Brown fan might liken them to the Free Masons or the Illuminati. Both Erik and Charles had received invitations to join in their younger days but both men had turned down the club for different reasons. Now though the Master of Magnetism was more than willing to accept the invitation, "Welcome to the Inner Circle Mr. Lensherr or would you prefer Grey King?" The other was silent for a moment before answering,

"Either of them are fine Lord Imperial." Magneto answered, he had eschewed his armor for a high quality grey striped suit and matching tie "Do I have your permission to carry out my plans for the Massachusetts Academy?" Shaw was silent for a moment before answering.

"Yes but please be discreet, if your little project does backfire I'd rather have mine or the club's name drug through the mud." Sebastian was a little hesitant about granting his fellow mutant's request but he figured the academy would be a good way to occupy Lensherr.

"It won't, though you'd certainly want reap the benefits if I succeeded." Erik retorted dryly to which the Lord Imperial chuckled,

"If our positions were reversed you'd do the exact same thing." He pointed out to which Lensherr could only shrug. It was no matter, as far as he was concerned Sebastian's tenure as Lord Imperial of the Hellfire Club was a very temporary arrangement as far as he was concerned. Once his school turned out a sufficient number of trained mutants Erik would make his move against Shaw.

…**..**

**HYDRA Facility, Location Unknown** ….

Avondale Naypeer also known as the Doctor or Doc was in a positively giddy mood as he stood in front of some kind of incubator. Incased in the incubator was a small, sleeping infant The Doc stroked the glass, his unchanged surgical gloves left a streak of blood, "Ah X-23 you are mien greatest success, your siblings did not die in vain. The good Dr. Riesman und I endowed you vith abilities Veapon X could only dream. You shall be part of an army far greater than vhat the Riech or Millennium could've dreamed of." Thus the stage was set for a struggle unlike any other….

**Author's Notes: **Sorry no Deadpool this time, this chapter basically shows off some the threats Hellsing and the X-Men go up against. I got the idea of using the Hellfire Club from what I've heard about the new X-Men movie. I will be giving them a more occult feel so you can expect a few characters with supernatural abilities in their ranks. The next chapter will feature young Kurt and Rogue growing up followed by the main story. If you have a request or suggestion let me know.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize**

**Chapter Three: Through the Years**

**Somewhere over Atlantic…**

Raven sat quietly in her seat listening to the sounds of the engine. Currently she and her son were flying in a Hellsing toward the United States for a long over due visit. Trying to juggle her responsibilities as a parent, a field agent, and an adviser to Integra had taken its toll on her. Until the age of four Kurt had been pretty much been raised in Austria by Irene. Once Integra had gained a modicum of self sufficiency Mystique had been able to take a more active role in her son's life. Alucard and Walter, putting it very mildly, had been little to no help whatsoever in that endeavor.

The Hellsing vampire had never been one of her favorite people to begin with but the past few years had her wishing Abraham van Helsing had simply finished off the No-life-King instead of trying to make a house pet out of him. Letting Magneto escape had been an unforgivable blunder, Erik had dropped off the radar after that and would one day resurface fully prepared to exact vengeance her and Kurt. There was also no telling the hell he'd unleashed on the world.

Furthermore she found herself having to act as a voice of reason and restraint to Alucard whose solution to every problem was mass slaughter. He seemed to delight in manipulating the girl into giving him free reign on every mission. Without her around the shapeshifter suspected Alucard would use the poor child to start World War Three or over throw the government.

Walter did little to help in this regard insisting: _"I'm merely a butler and I have no say in such matters." _Despite the civilized veneer she suspected he was easily as blood thirsty as Alucard. She was willing to bet the old butler got as much of his kicks from the sight of dismembered corpses as he did from his extensive collection of risque magazines. Much to her displeasure Kurt seemed to look up to the butler as something of a father figure.

In contrast to the vampire and the butler Raven held a great deal of affection for Integra though. She was bright young woman with a great deal of leadership potential when she wasn't letting herself be goaded by Alucard. Furthermore she had always treated Mystique with the utmost respect and always made Kurt feel welcome when stayed he at the manor during the week. She seemed to have inherited the best traits of her family.

The Hellsings for most of her life had been the exception to her otherwise poor view of homo sapiens. But she had come to know others in recent years, humans who looked past what they saw. The younger soldiers under Raven's command were wary of her for the most part but the veterans who had served along side her usually set them straight.

Sir Irons of the Council of Twelve had misgivings regarding due to her past connections with Magneto. The old man though had warmed up to her over the years, at least much as he did to anyone. At the end of the day she really couldn't complain; perhaps it wasn't the life she had wanted for Kurt or herself but things could be a lot worse. She glanced fondly at the photo in her hand, it was a photo of a nine year old girl with misty gray eyes almost hidden under a mop of chestnut brown and snow white hair, _"A lot worse indeed." _

Raven glanced over at the sleeping eight year old blue-furred boy asleep in the seat next to her. She ran a hand through the boy's hair to gently wake him up, "(Kurt sweetheart,)" the mother said in German, her tone was soft and soothing, "(would you like to see a photo of your sister?)" That got Kurt's attention, he sat up and rubbed his eyes. Mystique handed him the picture, after a moment he looked up at his mother with a look uncertainty,

"(Do you think Anna will like me?)" Kurt asked and hugged his knees, Raven knew her son a lot of insecurities regarding his appearance. Mystique sat him in her lap and gave him her warmest smile. The boy leaned against her as she ran a hand through her son's hair. Most of her comrades and coworkers would be surprised by this tender moment.

"(You've talked to her on the phone lots of times, she's really looking forward to meeting her little brother. Your Aunt Irene is explaining everything to her. If it helps I'm a little scared too.)" She admitted, Kurt's eyes widened,

"(Why?)"

"(Well, Anna's never seen the real me.)" The shapeshifter explained allowing a bit of her own insecurities to surface. As much as it went her nature she hoped allowing her son to see she was worried too would help him feel better about everything, "(A lot of people get scared of me the first time they see me too.)" Kurt blinked in surprise and reached up to touch his mother's face.

"(But you're beautiful mother.)" Mystique smiled and hugged her son tightly,

"(And your my handsome little man.)" Raven said in a loving tone, "(Most people only judge based on appearances. They see that we're different and that's all they care about.)" Kurt became rather quiet as he took it all in,

"(Do you think Anna is like that?)" The blue child asked,

"(I don't think she is.)" She assured him and then switched languages, "I think it would be best if you worked on your English though. Your sister doesn't speak German." Kurt nodded,

"Yes mother," the boy said, "can I ask you somezhing else?"

"Of course sweetie."

"Vhy do you und Aunt Irene sleep in zhe same bed?" Mystique blinked a few times, this was one question she had hoped to put off for a few years. The seer and the shapeshifter had always planned to explain the nature of their relationship to the children when they were older. In fact they had always been fairly careful to keep them in the dark...

"Kurt how do you know about Irene and I sleeping in the same bed?" The mother asked as warning bell went off in the back of her mind.

"Oh Herr Alucard told me. He also said zhat you do things vith her that vomen should only do vith men."

**...**

**Hellsing Headquarters, Outside of London...**

**"MWAHAHAHAHAHA!" **Even before becoming a vampire Alucard had been a powerful man of many talents: a ruler, a formidable swordsmen, a brilliant strategist, and a master of alchemy and black being supernatural beings attuned to magic most vampires only had a passing interest in mysticism. Alucard understood that attitude well enough, he himself was guilty of it. Most vampiric powers do what many spells do in only half the time since they didn't require gestures or spoken words. But in the No Life King's opinion you could never have to many ways to maim, kill, torture, or emiserate people.

After his defeat at the hands of Magneto the vampire had worked on improving all of his abilities. Walter was in the process of acquiring new weapons to diversify his arsenal and Integra had granted him limited access to the Hellsing family's impressive collection of grimoires. He had brushed up on an array of useful spells that not only gave him more ways to fight but also more way to amuse himself. Currently he making use of a scrying pool to watch what had been a touching family moment turned awkward pregnant pause, "Lord Alucard you mustn't do such cruel things to the boy." Walter said trying not to laugh at the expression on Raven's face.

The butler did find himself with something of a soft spot for the lad but Lord was his mother a pain in his ass. Alucard's reaction was...well less restrained, bloody tears ran down the vampire's face as his terrible laughter echoing throughout the manor, "It's little moments like this that make life worth while Walter, even a for one such as myself." The Nosferatu said in a sagely tone to which the butler nodded in agreement,

"Indeed old friend, I must say though Ms. Darkholme looks quite furious." the Angel of Death said dryly, "I haven't seen her this angry since the lad found one of my gentleman's magazines. There may some fallout for you over this when she gets back."

"And what of you old friend?"

"I had no knowledge of this fiendish plot and find myself completely shocked by your actions." Walter deadpanned,

"Your sense of camaraderie touches me deeply." Alucard sneered, the butler started polishing his monocle,

"May I remind of our first mission together? You left me and Rogers to deal with the werewolf while you and Creed went after the fat major." The butler said with a bit of cold steel to his tone,

"You survived as I knew you would old friend." Alucard assured him before glancing at the pool once more, "She has quite the colorful vocabulary, well she can't say the boy learned those words from us."

**...**

**Somewhere in Cadlecott County, Mississippi several hours later...**

Anna Marie Darkholme sat in the living room of her home trying to take in everything Irene had just told her. The little girl looked at the photo in her hand, "So this is wha' Kurt really looks like?" the girl said in both fear and confusion. Irene knew Anna was at heart a child of the South, when Raven had first adopted her the girl spoke more Creole French then English. Growing up here meant that you were constantly exposed to a combination of superstition, folktales, and spiritualism. Irene had always been afraid that there would be issues with Kurt's appearance.

"Yes Anna that's what Kurt looks like." The blind seer said softly, "Both he and your mother look very different from most people but they're still people underneath."

"Mama too?" Anna said in a frightened tone, "but Ah've seen her! She lo-"

"Raven can change the way she looks, it's her special power. Reguardless of what she looks like she's still the woman who adopted you and makes sure you have everything you need. And your poor brother can't even make himself look different. He's never even gotten to play with another little boy or girl his age." Anna's eyes widened as looked down at the photo once more. Those yellow eyes that had unerved her more then anything now seemed so...lonely.

"Why didn't ya'll tell meh Auntie Renie?" Anna asked sounding more hurt then afraid now.

"For many reasons; for one we felt you were to young to keep a secret." Irene explained, she was quiet for a moment before continuing. "and Raven was afraid...that you wouldn't love her anymore."

Anna thought back to how lonely things were for her at the orphanage. She didn't know who her birth parents were, to her Raven and Irene were her family and that meant Kurt was her was little brother no matter what he looked like. The little girl looked up at Destiny, "Can we make some cookies for them before they get here?" The blind woman smiled softly,

"That sounds like a wonderful ideal Anna."

**...**

**An Hour Later...**

Raven pulled into the driveway of Irene's home, a simple-looking but well-maintained two-story red-bricked house surrounded by pine forest,_ "You always were a country bumpkin." _The shapeshifter noted, Irene had come from small village in rural Austria and held a liking for out of the way places. Mystique was the opposite prefering places like New York and London where the wealthy and powerful gathered,_ "If we ever move in together perhaps the suburbs would be a nice compromise."_

Kurt was sitting quietly in the back seat as a dozen emotions played across his face. Raven had managed put off the little issue that had been raised during the flight for the time being but at this point the damage was done. Alucard was quite possibly the most delibralately cruel and petty individual to the walk the planet, someone who enjoyed recieving pain as much as he enjoyed dishing it out. Mystique though swore she would find some way to make the vampire wish the Ottomans had permanatly ended him half a millennia ago. For now though she was determined to enjoy this moment inspite of everything.

**...**

**Xavier's School for Extremely Gifted Youngster, Bayville, New York several years later...**

Charles Xavier sat at the desk of his office feeling a sense of forboading as he browsed through the various files on his desk, "What have you been up to Erik?" The telepath's wizened features showed his worry, it would seem his old friend had shifted tactics in recent years. Originally Magneto had essentially planned to lead a bloody revolution of sorts against _Homo Sapien_s and establish mutantkind as the dominate species on the planet. Charles shook his head, how Erik managed to avoid seeing the paralells between himself and his long dead Nazi tormentors was beyond him.

Now though Magneto appeared to have entrenched himself in the Hellfire Club. Charles had always wondered if one day he'd have to confront the secret society; now it seemed inevitable. It meant Erik was arguably more dangerous then ever; especially considering he now had access to wealth and recources rivaling Xavier's. What baffled the Proffessor the most though was why? While Magnus while easily capable of participating in the intrigues and power struggles of the Hellfire Club one would think he would veiw such a thing as a distraction from his goals.

From what he knew the bulk of the club was nothing more then a glorified strip club for the wealthy and powerful. Though he was many things Lensherr had never struck Charles as a sex addict. At it's heart though was the Inner Circle that alledgedly manipulated the balance of power on a global scale. If Erik had gone through the trouble of joining them then there must some truth to that belief. The internet was filled with claims of occult powers, devil worship, and bizzare rituals, in other words the same things that were said about any number of other such "secret societies".

The Proffessor then glanced at a file seperate from the others, it contained all the information his contacts had managed to gather on Mystique. The woman who had for all intents and purposes had been Erik's right hand appeared to have vanished from the face of the Earth. At first he had thought it another piece the mystery but what if it had been the key? Apparently Raven had spent many years working in the CIA and even a special branch of SHIELD.

The details were classified, even with his goverment connections the best he could manage were a few heavily censored documents. None the less it illustrated how skilled the woman was, perhaps she had been killed while on a mission and Erik had joined the Hellfire Club to somehow compensate for the loss of such a skilled agent? Or pehaps she had betrayed him? Xavier had sometimes wondered if she was more loyal to Erik's ideals of mutant "prosperity" then to the man himself. If she had then Erik would've most certainly... the thought of the man who had been his closest friend killing was painful, "Oh Erik would you really go so far?"

Or what if Erik had been the betrayer? Xavier shuddered involuntarily, beneath the cold and occasionally coy exterior Raven presented to others the telepath suspected they were some profound anger issues. Could it be possible Magneto needed protection from Mystique? He shook his head, Charles still knew he was missing far to many peices in order to complete this puzzle.

It was the many unknowns that worried him, the Proffessor though was a man of hope. The immortal words of John F. Kennedy came to mind _"Do not pray for easy lives my friends, pray to be stronger men." _For the sake of the world and his dreams for making it a more peaceful place who vowed to be a stronger man. He and his X-Men would make those dreams come true, "Come Hellfire or highwater."

Next Chapter: The Butterfly Effect Part One


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: If you recognize it I don't own it...**

**Chapter Four: The Butterfly Effect Part One**

**Xavier Institute, Bayville, New York... **

Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin was standing in the private office of Charles Xavier, the strange man who had invited him to the United States. Piotr was easily seven feet tall and very muscular. His face was strong-jawed and stoic, his clear blue eyes were a contrast to his close cropped jet-black hair.

Piotr was admiring the paintings and sculptures that decorated the room while thinking about Xavier's offer. He felt a great deal of uncertainty about what the professor told him about the X-Men. The ideas certainly sounded noble and if he could help better the world with his powers he would. "Peace, Land, and Bread" had mantra of the Bolsheviks. To Lenin those words had truly meant something, to his successors it had been a justification for mass murder. Words meant little, it was a person's actions that proved their worth.

He might have turned Xavier down all together if the telepath had hadn't revealed one thing. Piotr pulled a small photograph out of his wallet. A soft smile graced Rasputin's normally stoic features as he glanced at the photo of his beloved sister Illyana. Xavier revealed that she also had an X-Gene meaning that potentially she was a mutant as well.

Piotr was used to being an object of fear and ridicule because of his abilities and learned to accept it. His precious little sister though deserved better then that. His brother Mikhail was gone and his parents were elderly. This meant it was quite likely that Piotr would be responsible for his sister's well being one day, "(I do this for you my little snowflake.)" He said softly and put the picture away.

The door to the office opened, Piotr turned to see three people enter the room. The first was a man in a wheelchair, Rasputin had already met Xavier. The Professor's wizened but kind features were instantly recognizable. The other two though were unknown to him, they both looked to be around sixteen or seventeen. One was holding open the door for the other two, his hair was a dark reddish brown and well styled while his eyes were hidden behind a pair of ruby-lensed sunglasses. He was a tall (though nowhere as tall Piotr), slim individual with a serious look on his face.

The other was a beautiful young woman with long, flaming red hair that reminded Piotr of the setting sun. With her bright emerald eyes and a warm smile she struck the Russian as the most out going person of the group. Both teens wore long sleeved-shirts and khaki pants making Piotr wonder they were a couple or if this was how all American teens dressed..

"Scott, Jean allow me to introduce Peter Rasputin." Scott shook his hand while the Professor continued talking, "He just arrived from Russia earlier today," Xavier then turned to Piotr,"Mr. Rasputin Scott and Jean were some of my of my first students."

"Welcome to the United States Peter." Jean said happily, "What part of Russia are you from?"

"Ust-Ordensky, Siberia," He answered and glanced out the window down toward Bayville, "It was originally collective farm under Communists, it's wery different from here." He said in a tone that implied that Piotr wasn't sure rather or not that was a good thing.

"Give it a chance Peter, it'll feel like home in no time." Jean said offering him a friendly smile, Scott nodded,

"I'm originally from Alaska and I grew up in Nebraska, I know it doesn't hold a candle to another country but I know what culture shock feels like. You'll get used to it in no time." He said thinking back to his early days at the institute.

"I shall, how do you say, give it a try?" Piotr hoped he had gotten that saying right, he then glanced at Scott with a thoughtful look on his face, "Alaska, that place is familiar to me."

"It was originally a Russian colony." Jean explained, the Russian looked at her in surprise,

"I did not know that," Piotr admitted, "Actually if I recall that is the province that Sarah Palin is from is it not?" Scott groaned and face palmed,

"Please don't judge us by that woman." He pleaded,

"Only if you don't barrage me with "In Soviet Russia" jokes." Rasputin said in a surprisingly serious tone.

"Agreed," Scott said shaking Piotr's out stretched hand once more, "how about we get you set up in your room and then will introduce you to the others."

"That would be nice, thank you Scott."

"You won't be thanking when I introduce you to Logan," Seeing Piotr's confused expression Scott elaborated,"he's like our own personal a marine drill sergeant from hell."

"Logan's not that bad." Jean said diplomatically, she knew Wolverine could be a little zealous when it came to training them but it was only because he wanted to be them able to handle themselves if they got into trouble. Seeing Piotr bend over to pick up his bags Jean levitated them, "The wonders of telekinesis" she explained with a smile,

"This is your power?" Jean nodded,

"I'm also a telepath, though nowhere near Professor Xavier's level." She said with some embarrassment, "So what's your special power?" Piotr glanced at Xavier who smiled cryptically and said:

"Don't worry the floor will hold your weight." The younger X-Men looked upon Piotr with curiosity. The Russian mutant took off his jacket and concentrated, what followed wouldn't have been out of place in one of the _Terminator _movies. Piotr grew a foot taller as metal ridges encased his body, his clothes were completely shredded in the process.

"Whoa!" The younger X-Men gasped at the same time. Xavier chuckled softly,

"Welcome the X-Men Colossus."

**At the Brotherhood of Bayville** **Boarding Home across town...**

To say Wanda Maximoff was a very angry person would be a profound understatement. She and her brother Pietro were tasked with running the Brotherhood of Mutants. A group that at the end of the day served as both a dumping ground for mutants who weren't good enough for Magneto's Academy and as a lightning rod to distract the X-Geeks from his grandiose plans.

Her father had always tried to get her into his preppy little academy up in Massachusetts but Wanda wanted nothing to do with it. Honestly she hated this stupid little game her father and Xavier seemed to be playing. Every time she heard the old man rant about mutant supremacy it made her blood boil. Her mother Magda had been human, did her father consider the mother of his children inferior?

Thinking of her mother always brought a volatile mix of emotions to the surface. Shame for barely being able to remember Magda's face, sorrow for loosing her, and above all else anger-at her father for not being there to protect her mother, for caring about his ideology more then his own family, for joining that fucking occult sex club behind Magda's back, and at herself for having been too weak for so- the sound of shattering glass distracted her from her inner rant. Her mirror had shattered, not the worst loss of control she had suffered. Both her brother and father could vouch for that.

She chanting something in Latin, a slight hand gesture completed the spell. The mirror reassembled itself and returned to it's place upon the wall of her room., "At least the Hellfire Club is good for something." In addition to her mutant power to manipulate reality Wanda was strongly attuned to magic as well. In fact the line between her mutant power and her sorcery was blurry at best. The Hellfire Club tutored her in the mystical arts, they claimed that she was potentially one of the most powerful spellcasters on the planet. With only one exception, most of the tutors were only interested in kissing her father's ass. She cast her collection of spellbooks a fond glance. Wanda's favorites were gifts from her first teacher, the only person she considered a friend.

She looked at herself in the mirror, a pair icy blue eyes stared back. Her raven hair went down past her shoulders, her skin was an almost alabaster white. She favored Gothic clothing with a marked preference for red and black. She did occasionally turn heads at school but between her father and her dimwitted brother the fifteen year old had enough men to deal with.

With a levitation spell she summoned one of her grimores and assumed the lotus position. Researching new spells usually calmed her down...usually, "Frau Maximoff?"An effeminate voice asked from behind the mutant sorceress, "vhere ist Pietro?" Wanda groaned and turned around coming face to face with her father's favorite messenger boy,

"Hello Schrödinger," She said putting back her spellbook, "Pietro isn't here right now what does my father want?" The androgynous teen frowned and handed her a file, his brown cat ears drooped slightly, "Todd Tolanski, a boy at your school ist X-Gene positive. Zhe Grey King deems him vorthy of zhe Brotherhood." Wanda snorted

"Translation: he's not good enough for the academy but we can't let Xavier have him either."

"I'm just zhe messenger." Schrodinger shrugged sheepishly, he then got a somewhat thoughtful look on his face. His violet eyes lit up as he snapped fingers.

"Oh Caroline says she'll be in town in a couple of veeks," he added, then in a manner not unlike the Cheshire Cat he disappeared. Wanda allowed herself a small smile at the thought of her one friend in the world coming for a visit.

**Hellsing Manor, outside of London...**

At an ungodly hour in the night Raven Darkholme entered her son's room. His snoring was the only thing more ungodly then the hour. Mystique decided to glance around before waking him. A moth's flapping wings would have made more noise then the shapeshifter's foot steps as she walked over to his desk.

There was a laptop on it that was mainly for schoolwork, next to it was a small stack of those Japanese comics he was so enamored with. Raven picked up a copy of _One Piece_, Kurt loved anything pirate-related. She made it a point to familiarize herself with her children's interests. Walking over to Kurt's bookshelf Raven could see it was stocked with adventure books of all sort such as the _Lord of the Rings trilogy _and _Treasure Island_. She also noticed a couple Stephen King books Rogue as she called herself these days sent him as part some book exchange they had going. Raven and Irene were so happy their children had bonded as well as they did.

Kurt's choice of reading material made one thing clear: there was nothing he wanted more then get out into the wider world. She sighed and shook her head, _"It's not a world of wizards, pirates, and fair maidens in towers out there my son. It's cruel place that exists to crush the good and the helpless." _Raven walked towards Kurt's bed with the intent of waking him. She stopped when she noticed a bible on his nightstand

Mystique had mixed feelings about her son's faith and religion in general. Raven's father had been a minister who zealously embraced "spare the rod, spoil the child" as his mantra. A harsh parent even by the standards of his time; nineteenth century rural Europe to be precise. That was before her shapeshifting abilities manifested, afterwards... she suppressed those memories as soon as they surfaced.

For Kurt faith helped him accept who he was, he didn't use it as an excuse to put down others or act self-righteous. He had never thought less of her and Irene's lifestyle. At the end of the day Mystique suspected he wouldn't have liked his grandfather at all. Raven smiled sadly as she watched Kurt sleep,_"I'm so proud of you my son, you're growing into a far better person then I," _

"Kurt you need to wake up and get prepped for your first mission." His yellow eyes snapped open and he jumped out of bed,

"Finally I thought Integra vould never give me a chance!" Kurt's tone was eager. The younger mutant went about the workout routine that had become second nature to him after so many years. Raven paced back and forth as she explained to details to him,

"A vampire's raising hell in Northern Ireland near the Catholic border. Alucard will deal with him or her," Raven saw the disappointment on his face, "you aren't ready to take on a vampire on your own. His servants will be plenty life threatening, you and the new girl will deal with them."

"Miss Victoria?" He asked in an all too innocent tone, Raven sighed and rubbed her temples. She knew Kurt was as interested in girls as any other fifteen year-old boy. She knew Seras Victoria, Alucard's new fledgling, was a very attractive young woman with double-d cup breasts. Raven also tried to be understanding of the fact that she was the only woman Kurt had ever interacted with outside the family and Integra. She tried, she really did...

"Dammit Kurt!" She used the whiplash tone she had only had to use on him a few times when he was younger. Raven hated resorting to that, Kurt always looked at her like she had hit him. But he needed to understand this wasn't a game, "You are about to go out on your first mission and if your head isn't in the game it'll be your last! Since your youngest days Walter, Integra, myself, and even Alucard have taught you about fighting the supernatural. Those lessons will keep you alive, that is where your mind needs to be!"

"Yes mother." He said in a subdued tone of voice before finishing his workout in silence. The younger Darkholme retrieved something from his nightstand. It was one of his most precious possessions: a sterling silver cross and chain. A Hellsing family heirloom that Integra had given him for Christmas. It was a gift her son had cherished for it's simple yet striking beauty. Mystique though recognized it as a sign of Integra's acceptance of herself and her family.

The Darkholmes walked down the hall in silence, Raven found it suffocating. To her surprise it was Kurt who broke the silence, "I'm sorry mother," he said quietly,"You are correct; zhis is not a game. Mien duty is vhat matters." He said as he grabbed the cross around his neck.

"Your life matters too! I-" She struggled to form the words, "-I don't want anything to happen to you my son." Her eyes met his, Kurt could see the fear in them,"losing you would destroy me. I know I'm harsh at times but it's only because I love you." The younger Darkholme hugged his mother tightly,

"I love you too mother, don't vorry about me." He assured her with an impish grin that warmed her heart, "I have my faith."

"I'd prefer common sense my son." She said dryly and pecked him on the top of his head.

…**...**

**Integra's Office, ten minutes later...**

Kurt Darkholme stood stiffly at attention, a position that was difficult due to his unique physiology. He wore an all black outfit that consisted of a turtleneck, pants, and custom made fingerless gloves, "At ease Mr. Darkholme," Integra Hellsing said after taking a drag off one of her cigars. Kurt did as he was told and relaxed his posture, his tail lazily swishing back and forth.

"I'm given to understand your mother briefed you on the basics of your first mission, correct?"

"Jawol, milady." He answered with a slight bow, proper etiquette had been a major part of Kurt's upbringing.

"Good, now I believe Walter has something for you." She glanced at the butler was holding a black metallic case. Kurt's eyes lit up when he realized what it was;

"Christmas has come early my dear boy." Walter said as he opened the case, a joyus grin spread across Kurt's face. It was a beautifully-made scimitar, Kurt picked up the weapon as gently as a mother might handle a newborn infant. Though he had trained with several types of swords Kurt had ultimately settled on the Kilij. The Turkish sword had a short, broad curved blade and a t-shaped cross-guard. Giving the sword a few quick twirls to make sure it was well balanced Kurt then examined the scabbard. The outside was fine black leather with some silver plating thrown in for flair. Kurt was pleased when he noticed a white skull symbol on the throat of the Scabbard, the same his mother used to wear.

"The edge of the blade is silver and was consecrated on hollowed ground." Walter explained, his grin went from gentle to wolfish, "Whether it cuts vampire or demon matters not, most freaks will not be coming back for seconds. Plus I suspect Lord Alucard will be most uncomfortable with the sight of it." Kurt suddenly became even more interested in his shiny new blade. Integra raised an eyebrow,

"Alucard could easily survive a blow from that blade." The English knight point, Walter chuckled and Raven felt a smile tug at her lips,

"Well milady the Kilij was the favored weapon of the Ottoman Turks." Walter explained, Integra glanced at Kurt who wore an expression of cherubic innocence as he hooked the scabbard to his belt. Alucard had found great delight in tormenting the boy over the years so it was only natural for Kurt do something to get a little payback. As long as it didn't interfere with the mission or cause Alucard's Islamaphobia to resurface she would allow it.

"Well Mr. Darkholme you need to be at the airfield in five, Alucard and the police girl will be waiting. If you are not there they will leave without you understood?"

"Jawol, milady!" He said with a snappy salute, Integra nodded approvingly,

"Good," Integra then clasped her hands together and lowered her head in prayer, "In the name of God, impure souls of the living dead shall cast into eternal damnation."

"Amen." Walter and Kurt said and left the room. Raven felt her stomach tighten as her son walked out, _"I don't know if there is God," _The shapeshifter's gaze drifted upward,_ "if you do exist I have some major bones to pick with you. I've never asked you for much since my father...but my son believes in you with all of his heart. Keep him safe, you've already dealt him a cruel enough hand, don't take his life from him at such a young age." _

**Omake Two: More Notes from Deadpool (Please read)**

"Hey folks I'm back to remind you of a few things. First off a big thanks from the writer to everyone who reviewed and favorited this story!" Wade gives a big thumbs up to the audience, "Secondly he wants you to remember of the AU aspect of this story. Some character's personalities are different from canon and obviously so is the plot. Thirdly characters from other manga, comics, and cartoon shows will be dropped in, please keep in mind these characters are being imported in a piecemeal fashion. In case you're wondering Captain Lycan isn't writing these notes himself because he's watching the sword, smut, and sorcery epic known as _Game of Thrones_ on HBO."

"Shut it Wade, go lament the fact that Ryan Reynolds chose to play Green Lantern over you."

"I thought you loved me Ryan! WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME!" No attempt will be made to describe the sad and disturbing that is Deadpool bawling and prostrating himself before a shrine to Ryan Reynolds.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.**

**Chapter Five: The Butterfly Effect Part Two**

**Somewhere near the Xavier Institute, Bayville, New York...**

From the top of a church steeple observed Schrödinger observed the Institute via a shiny new camcorder with one hell of a zoom feature. The boy had golden blonde and bright violet eyes, Schro's most noticeable feature were his fluffy brown cat ears. Schrodinger was currently wearing a light blue sweater vest and khaki shorts. In the absence of his ears he wouldn't have been out of place in a private boarding school or country club gathering.

Currently the X-Men were simply lounging about enjoying the peace and quiet that was about to be shattered. The catboy grinned, Xavier had apparently neglected to inform his students of the fact that there was a hostile group of mutants just on the other side of town. Apparently the good professor was clinging to the hope that he and Magneto would be able to reconcile their differences.

If he only knew the sheer scope of Magneto's plans Schro' would be willing to bet the old cripple wouldn't be so hopeful. It reminded him of Neville Chamberlain's vain attempts to placate Hitler in the thirties, Xavier's foolish hopes would aid the Gray King's goals. The thing that Schrödinger was truly amused by was that both sides in the coming mutant gang war were oblivious as to what his _true _superiors were planning, the sounds of Schrödinger's _Der Freischutz_ ring tone filled the air, "Jawol?" the catboy answered,

"Are you alone Varrent Officer Schrodinger?" A stern sounding man asked,

"Of course Doc, ist mien sister vell?" He asked happily,

"X-23 ist nacht your sister," The Doctor said in a tone that implied that he had said this to Schrodinger before, "She ist a veapon, nacht a person! Get zhat throught your thick skull and give me a status report!" Schrodinger examined his nails lazily, his expression of was one of boredom.

"You created her just as you created me does zhat not make her mien sibling? I asked you a question, answer it und I vill give you a status report." The catboy could practically here Doc's blood pressure approaching stroke range through the phone. The Doctor quickly took a deep breath before speaking,

"She ist...vell, she's just returned from her first assassination mission. It vas a smashing success, " Schrodinger wiped a joyful tear from his eye,"Does the Hellfire Club suspect anything?" Proud big brother was gone now as predatory grin spread across his face,

"Nein, like zhe British Empire of old they are so certain of their hold upon zhe vorld zhey can't think of anyone capable of challenging zhem. Vhen ve strike zhey vill burn just as London burned buring zhe blitz." Schrodinger's grin widened at the thought, the past sixty years had been terribly dull. HYDRA's current leadership lacked...enthusiasm and a clear view of things. Like Herr Lensherr they had delusions of a new world order, the late Major had told him that such things were pointless goals,

"_Chaos ist zhe natural state of zhe vorld Varrent Officer Schrodinger," _The jolly Major's words came to mind, _"it is a powderkeg vaiting for a match or spark to set it ablaze. The only thing you can do is grab some hot cocoa, light ze fuse, and enjoy zhe firevorks!" _

"(If your vatching Major zhe fireworks are coming, for now enjoy some sparklers.)" Soon enough HYDRA would be reinvigorated, until then the Millennium survivors would grin and bear it.

"Vell, spoken Varrent Officer, he smiles upon us as wrests the throne of Hell from Lucifer himself," The Doctor said softly before becoming serious once again, "Make sure things between zhe mutant factions escalate."

"Of course, Peitro should be here soon enough with zhat new recruit of theirs. I'll contact you after our little skirmish, Schrodinger out."

"Understood, Hail HYDRA!" The Doctor's tone held the tiniest trace of sarcasm,

"Hail!" Schrodinger made no attempt to hide his sarcasm.

…**...**

**Somewhere outside of Badrick, North Ireland...**

Kurt had known since his youngest days that working for Hellsing meant killing monsters. But it wasn't the glorious crusade he had envisioned, _"Mother always tried to tell me as much." _Darkholme thought glumly, he stood in the hallway of multistory building, Kurt couldn't exactly recall what purpose it served prior to the vampire's arrival, staring down a pack of ghouls. Created from a vampire's unchaste victims, the lumbering flesh eating corpses were bound to said vampire's will. Integra had ordered him to clear out the vampires servants.

The mutant teleporter grabbed the hilt of his blade and found himself hesitating. The thing his mother and all his of other teachers had failed to tell him was that all ghouls had expressions of sorrow and agony upon their rotting faces. Sir Integra had described them as mindless puppets, but what if they did posses some sliver of humanity? Kurt's internal moral debate came to an abrupt halt when nearest ghoul's head exploded showering the devil-like mutant in skull fragments and brain matter.

"Be grateful Darkholme, I won't be saving your blue hide a second time." Alucard's deep voice said followed by the sounds of a hand gun being reloaded, "There is no way to turn humans back once they get like this, the only thing we can do for them is put them out of their misery." wiping his face clean, Kurt muttered;

"Thank you Herr Alucard." His childhood tormentor would never be one of his favorite people but the young Darkholme had to admit the vampire was not without moments of dark wisdom. Kurt vanished in a yellow flash of fire and brimstone reappearing in front of the lead ghoul scimitar drawn. With a single swing he decapitated the ghoul, the one to his left grabbed his tail, "Schiess!" He teleported again, with each strike it seemed his training took over. Kurt carved his way through the undead mass, between his agility and teleportation he was untouchable.

Alucard watched the whole scene impressed with the young mutants skill, _"Still a little wet behind ears but he has potential, he'll become as formidable as his mother in due time," _He pulled out a bag of medical blood and stuck a straw in it. The Vampire King enjoyed his beverage for a second before sending a telepathic message to his new fledgling, _"POLICE GIRL!" _Alucard bellowed through their psychic link,

"_Y-yes sir? Cripes, are we talking to each other telepathically? I keep feeling less and less human."_

"_No fledgling of mine will be outdone by Raven's brat, it's time to prove yourself worthy of my blessing." _Alucard sensed his fledgling's confusion and groaned, _"Get your ass in here and make sure you kill more things then the satanic-looking blue monkey!" _Seras got the messageloud and clear that time.

"YES SIR!" The blonde, busty, blue-eyed vampire jumped to her feet and grabbed her elephant gun. She kicked the door down and rolled out into the hallway where Darkholme and her master were.

Taking aim with with her over sized rifle she blew the brains out of a ghoul that was about to sink it's teeth into Kurt's left arm. The young lad teleported himself to the vampire's side,

"Thank you Frau Victoria." Darkholme said to the Draculina with as big a smile as he could muster under the circumstances. Seras though didn't hear the boy, with each shot fired she was more and more sucked into her own world. Despite the gun's incredible power the vampire barely felt any recoil as she decimated the ghouls.

"Vow." Was all Kurt could say as the walking dead were reduced to the consistency of ground beef. When he glanced back at Seras he noticed the her eyes had turned blood red, "Are you alright Frau Victoria?"

"She's fine Darkholme," Alucard said as he ruffled Kurt's hair, "She's finally acting as a proper Nosferatu should. Make the kill and enjoy spill police girl!" An empty ammo clip from Seras's rifle hit the ground. She turned to face the mutant and her master, hers eyes blazing ruby orbs,

"**Sir, yes sir my master!" **Seras said in a tone that caused Kurt's fur to stand on end. The vampire then charged the remaining ghouls. Casting her gun aside the bezerker blond went for a more hands on approach, punching, kicking, and even ripping apart the ghouls.

Kurt found himself thinking back to when he was ten, Integra had ordered Alucard to rip apart a pig carcass to help him understand one of the basic but most important things about vampires to remember: Vampires were strong. It was a lesson that had never sunk in, even as Alucard had effortlessly ripped through flesh, bone, and muscle like a hyperactive child through a gift-wrapped present, watching Frau Victoria do the same thing on the once human ghouls though drove the point home.

"Mother vas right, I-I really could get myself killed if I'm not careful!" He said in horror,

"No shit Sherlock, by the way your swordsmanship needs fine tuning. While the Kilij is capable of thrusting like most curved blades though it was meant slashing. Also be less shy about severing a limb or two before going in for the kill." Kurt's eye twitched but he accepted Alucard's critique none the less. When it came to killing things Alucard was unsurpassed. Kurt wiped the blood from his blade as he smiled slyly,

"I guess you've had a lot of experience in dealing with this blade do you not?" Alucard telekinetically summoned the scimitar from Kurt's grasp. The red clad vampire twirled the blade with ease,

"Oh yes, mine was slightly longer, this particular type you have is known as pala."

"Yours?" Alucard grinned at the disappointed look on Kurt's face before his own expression became somewhat distant,

"When I was a boy I lived the Turks as...as a hostage, I was taught how to handle swords such as these by my captors." The vampire handed Kurt his sword back, "This weapon was the ancestor to all European sabers, an excellent choice Darkholme. Keep it clean, keep it sharp."

"Of co-" Kurt was cut off by an inhuman shriek, to his horror a large blade of some sort was protruding from Seras's throat. Before either of them could do anything half a dozen more blades skewered the vampire. Seras's eyes turned blue once more she as fell to the ground, "Frau Victoria!" He cries out as he ported to her side. To his relief Seras was still alive since none of the swords had pierced her heart, "These aren't swords, they'r-"

"Bayonets, _blessed _bayonets," Alucard said as strode past Kurt and his wounded fledgling. Kurt noticed the faint, glowing Latin inscription on the handle of the blade,"You can see them?"Alucard asked in mild surprise. Before the mutant swordsman could hundreds of glowing pages flew in to the hallway and affixed themselves to the walls. Kurt's eyes widened in recognition; it was a spiritual barrier,

"_Holy weaponry and a spiritual barrier zhat can only mean one thing!" _Kurt and Alucard but saw a towering figure emerge from the darkness. Standing seven feet tall the new arrival clutched two bloody bayonets. The full moon's light reflected off the stranger's glasses, blades, and the large gold crucifix that hung around his neck. He held the weapons up in the shape of a cross,

"We are God's representatives." He prayed, "Earthy agents o' divine punishment. Oor mission is to destroy you, down to the last we bit, the fools who oppose oor God! AMEN!" He scraped the blades together creating blue sparks that briefly revealed his broad, rugged features, his wide emerald eyes, and his priestly attire. While Kurt shuddered in fear Alucard chuckled,

"Vatican Special Operations Division Section XII: the Iscariot Organization." The vampire said, the priest grinned revealing the most perfectly straight, white teeth Kurt had ever seen.

…**...**

**Hellsing Manor, outside of London...**

Hoping to distract herself from her feelings of uneasiness Mystique had decided to go to the firing range. While Raven was proficient a broad array of weapons she favored the compound bow above all others for hunting vampires. For starters it was silent, an invaluable trait against ordinary enemies, against the hypersensitive Nosferatu it was life saving. Further more unlike a firearm it didn't give off a flash making harder for someone to tell where it was fired from, against supernatural beings you need every available advantage.

"Colonel Darkholme!" Someone shouted just she was about to take aim, "Colonel Darkholme!" Raven felt her heart stop knowing there were very few reason someone would be bothering her.

"_Oh god Kurt!" _Outwardly she appeared calm as she faced the nervous-looking soldier. Raven knew him to be one of the newer recruits who had yet to adjust to her appearance, "Yes Private?"

"Sir Integra needs to speak to you immediately, ma'am. S-she say's it's about your son." The words hit like thunder. She bolted off before the soldier could say another word. Being a parent had taught her many things, including the true meaning of fear.

…**...**

**Back in Bayville...**

Pietro Maximoff was a high speed, blue/gray blur dashing through the streets of Bayville. He ran up the side of the building where Schrodinger was spying on the X-Geeks. Sure enough his father's creepy little messenger boy was there opening a large case of some sort, "Herr Maximoff is your team in position?"

"Yeah, yeah can we get this show on the road?" Quicksilver demanded impatiently tapping his foot on the ground. Schrodinger smiled, Pietro was so adorable when he pouted like that.

"Oh calm yourself you big silly," the catboy said as he pulled out a sniper rifle, "I just have to remove Xavier and his redheaded pet from zhe equitation first." Maximoff's eyes bugged out his head. Pietro knew his father was ready for the gloves to come off but he didn't think things were gonna get this serious.

"Your going to kill them!" Schrodinger rolled his eyes and held up two tranquilizer darts for the speedster to see,

"Nien, I'll just put zhem to sleep," Schro' explained as he loaded the rifle, "Magneto's orders."

"Can you even handle that thing?" The only thing Maximoff had ever seen Schro handle was the tv remote when _Sex in the City _was on. The catboy simply took aim and pulled the trigger.

…**...**

**The Institute that very moment...**

The sound of shattering glass followed by Xavier's scream was like a bucket of ice water for Scott and Piotr. The two had been in the kitchen after a few Danger Room sessions, the adrenaline from the work out was still in their system, "Professor!" Scott screamed as he and the Russian ran toward the living. Jean managed to beat them there. She looked up at her two teammates but before she could even manage say another window shattered. A large dart of some sort embedded itself the redhead's neck, "JEAN!" Scott screamed in horror as his friend collapsed to the ground twitching. A dark blue rift suddenly opened barring the two's path from from their telepathic teammates.

…**...**

Though separated by an ocean two groups of warriors are about to under go the rite of Baptism by Fire at the same time. Their fates will be changed and the fates of those around them will be changed forever.

**Next Chapter: Trial by Fire Part One**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six: Trial by Fire Part One**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.**

**Somewhere in Bayville, near the Xavier Institute, a few moments ago...**

Wanda Maximoff stood in the middle of a construction site that was empty save for the sorceress and the rest of the Brotherhood. The Scarlet Witch stood before a complex looking array which glowed with Eldritch blue fire. She chanted the spell that would open a pathway for her teammates to the inside of the institute.

The other two present made small talk, the newest member, one Todd "Toad" Tolanski, though found himself unnerved by Wanda's powers. The gangly-looking brown haired teen swallowed, "So the red wearin' hottie over there's the real deal?" He asked the senor Brotherhood member, a red-eyed Australian who went by Pyro. The orange-haired serial arsonist in the making was adjusting the nozzle on one of his wrist mounted flamethrowers.

"I don't really know how it works or what it has to do with her mutant powers but yeah, the scarlet sheila over there's the real thing. She once put a wammy on her brother that made him vomit snakes whenever he lied," The wild eyed Aussie looked unnerved at the memory,"lasted a week, was never able to look at Pietro the same way again." Offhandedly he added: "You might wanna be a wee bit more subtle in how you admire her. She ain't real crazy about men, daddy issues and all that." Todd seemed disappointed but quickly perked up as he grinned lewdly,

"So does that mean she's playing for the other team? Cause I'm fine with that." Pyro looked at Toad like he might explode at any moment. John had seen Wanda lose her temper enough times to fear what she might do if the FNG decided to question her sexuality.

"Don't know, but I really wouldn't suggest asking mate. She might turn you into a real toad." The was conversation cut short when Schrödinger appeared. The preppy-looking catboy had a sniper rifle slung over his shoulder,

"What the fuck!" Toad mouthed, next to him the normally high spirited Australian paled.

"Schrodinger." Pyro said quietly, the catboy smiled as if the pyrokenetic was an old friend,

"Johnathan, how positively delightful to see you again! Ve'll have time for pleasantries later," He turned toward the Scarlet Witch, "Frau Maximoff, zhe telepaths have been taken care of, you may now begin zhe offensive." Wanda nodded and uttered the last words of the spell opening a portal that led right into the X-Men's living room

"Step through!" The sorceress ordered the other Brotherhood members, "I can't keep this open for long!" The two male mutants stepped into light, once they were through Wanda closed the portal. The red-clad witch had no real interest in her father's agenda. Honestly keeping her moronic brother safe was the only reason she didn't simply leave. Pietro served their father with dog like loyalty always hoping that he would be invited into the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle, that their father would make him his right hand. She knew deep down what Pietro wanted was for their father to accept him. Loyalty though was a one way street for her father.

Wanda sat down on a cinder block and retrieved her favorite Stephen King novel, _The Talisman _from her satchel_. _Young Traveling Jack's adventures were a welcome distraction from her troubles. She envied him; traveling across America and between worlds. She felt so trapped by everything if not for her brother she'd love nothing more than to see the world. One day he'd understand and then maybe they'd both be free.

**Xavier Institute...**

Cyclops and Colossus watched as two figures emerged from the rift. To Scott's surprise he recognized them, wearing a red and and orange padded outfit was John Allerdyce, an Australian exchange student he had seen once or twice at school. Scott had heard a rumor that the carrot-topped sixteen year old had torched his old school in Australia. The flamethrower on John's back had him inclined to believe those rumors.

By smell alone he would've known Todd Tolanski. The unhygienic pick pocket was wearing a white and green costume that seemed to be made from the same material as John's outfit. They were certainly the last two people Scott had expected to attack the Institute, "Alright what the hell is going on!" He demanded while hoping that having Peter at his back helped him look more intimidating. As it stood they were in deep trouble, Ororo was out running errands and Logan was God only knew where. That meant it was up to him and Peter to beat these two creeps. The two thugs only laughed,

"What goin on? Your not goin to be of this world much longer. You'll be a sailin' across the ole River Styx in no time." Toad looked up with a perplexed expression,

"I didn't see no river, I think this place has a view of the ocean." Pyro let out a long suffering sigh,

"In Greek Mythology the River Styx was where the dead crossed from the land o' living to the underworld." Pyro explained, John noticed the incredulous look on Cyclops's face, "Before joining this crew I wanted to be a writer." He then let out an exaggerated sigh of disappointment, "My damn Philistine of an English teacher said I had no knack for it!"

"Is that why you burned your old school down?" Scott asked, he was running battle plans inside his head. With Jean and the Professor unconscious right behind them just blasting at the two goons was risky.

"No I left a bag of perpetually burning crap on his doorstep." He laughed at the memory, "My school burned down due to a combination of a bad drought and faulty wiring but I already had bit of a rep as firebug so guess who got the blame." Pyro explained with exaggerated sorrow. Then without any warning he loosed a jet of fire. Having just left his first Danger Room session Rasputin's reflexes were still sharp. Shifting to his steel form Piotr shielded Scott from the flames. Toad leapt over Colossus trying to imitate a Kung Fu move he had seen on TV. Whether or not it would've worked out well or not was rendered irrelevant as Scott blasted him away . Something connected with his face hard and fast sending the X-Man flying.

"Score one for the Brotherhood!" The blue and silver clad speedster shouted as he came to a stop,

"I am thinking not." An accented voice said from behind, the white-haired Maximoff turned around. Standing behind him was someone who struck him as the _Terminator's_ big brother wearing scorched clothing. The steel-coated mutant tried to grab him but was too slow. Pietro stopped next to Pryo and pointed at Piotr looking slightly wide eyed,

"Where'd the Communator come from?" Peitro demanded of his friend who just shrugged.

"Hell if I know, must be a new X-Geek." Pietro found himself wondering why the Hell his father couldn't get him people like that for the Brotherhood?

"I am called Colossus and this is my home now." Rasputin said threateningly, "You will leave or suffer consequences!" Quicksilver gulped but held firm.

"You can't even hit me!" Just saying it helped Pietro reclaim his confidence.

"Don't get to cocky!" Scott said as he got to his feet, "You barely hit me and round two is just getting started!" Cyclops tried his best to ignore the rapidly rising bruise on his left cheek. The pain helped drive one thing home: the training was over, this was the real thing.

**Xavier's Private Study at that very moment...**

Schrodinger materialized into the tastefully decorated office the moment the Brotherhood engaged the X-Men. Putting on a pair of rubber gloves he began searching around for clues on the whereabouts of Xavier's mutant tracking device, Cerebro. Schrodinger's feline DNA had endowed him with some animal instinct. It acted as GPS system for him preventing from materializing inside a wall or other hazardous place. Now that instinct was telling him something was here, fiddling around the desk he found a small button. Schrodinger pressed it, one of the bookshelves slid open revealing Cerebro. According to Herr Lensherr's intel Xavier was planning on building an upgraded version of the device.

Schrodinger could understood why, console and headset looked fairly dated compared to the tech Hydra and even Magneto had at their disposal. None the less it was an extremely valuable piece of tech , he would truly earn Herr Lensherr's trust for delivering it to him. The catboy sat down his toolbox and opened it. He could not teleport the whole machine with him but he could take it apart and port it away one piece at a time. Schrodinger would start with the headset followed by whatever he could download from Cerebro's hard drives. He began the long process humming a peppy tune as he worked ignoring the sounds of battle below.

**Across the Atlantic in Badrick, North Ireland...**

The figure emerged completely from the darkness, Alucard grinned while Kurt felt his blood run cold, "Nice moon out, ya freaks!" Through his mother and his studies of the Hellsing archives Darkholme had learned all about the Iscariot Agency; they were the Roman Catholic Church's cloak and dagger division with emphasis on the dagger. The paladins who fought alongside Charlemagne, the knightly orders that fought in the Crusades, the architectures of the Inquisition, and more came from the order named after Christ's betrayer.

Kurt recognized the scar-faced Scotsman as one Father Alexander Anderson from an old file photo. A mutant, he had allowed himself to be experimented on to augment his already formidable regenerative power to near immortal levels. Further more Darkholme knew this man also wielded formidable spiritual gifts, _"This man is a holy warrior without equal," _Kurt glanced Alucard who was casually walking up to the Judas Priest past the piles of ashes that had once been ghouls, _"Anderson must have __already killed the head vampire. Could he be strong enough to defeat Herr Alucard?" _

Seras's cry brought him back to the present, the boy turned his attention to helping his teammate. While the Priest and the Vampire exchanged banter Kurt began pulling out the blades one by one, "I am so sorry for zhe pain Frau Victoria." He whispered to her as he removed them, tears of blood fell from her once again blue eyes. The young mutant realized none of the blades had pierced her heart, _"Gott em Himmel! Vas he trying drag out her suffering?" _He had known that Iscariot was considerably more fanatical in regards to the war on vampirism (and all other other thing realy) then Hellsing. Seras's whimpers of pain tore at his heart, _"Holy warrior my blue-furred arsch." _

Kurt had studied scripture thus knew many Biblical figures, contrary to popular belief, were profoundly flawed individuals: King David had sent his best general to his death so could take his lover for himself, John the Baptist was eccentric, the Apostle Peter had a terrible temper, and the Apostle Paul's chauvinism had shaped much of Christianity's less then progressive views on women even to the modern day. Their flaws were proof that no one was beyond God's love. Anderson though fell into another category.

Watching Alucard and Anderson back to back Kurt now saw not a holy warrior but for lack of a better term "a Monster of God" about to face off against another monster. He was a man who would rain plagues down on a nation with no regard for who he killed. Kurt had removed the last bayonet when Alucard blew Anderson's brains out, the priest's body was sent flying.

Seras looked up wide eyed at her sire in horror. Anderson may have been a cruel, twisted excuse of a human being. But he had been a human being none the less, "M-master!"

"Don't speak Police Girl," He then glanced at Kurt, "You did well to remove the blessed blades Darkholme. We'll have to get her home quickly, even vampire's of my caliber have trouble healing from the wounds inflicted by holy weaponry." Darkholme's eyes were fixed on Anderson's body, the poor lighting making to tell for sure but it looked liked his head wound was still smoking,

"About Anderson Herr Alucar-" The vampire cut him off,

"He attacked me, a vampire, head on at night without even trying to catch me off guard. Brave but foolish, I suppose that's how it is with humans." He mused,

"HERR ALUCARD!" Kurt yelled at the same time Seras screamed:

"MASTER!" both rookies watched in horror as Anderson thrust two bayonets through Alucard's chest. Far from defeated the master vampire counter attacked,

"This man is a regenerator!" Kurt shouted as he helped Seras up, Alucard grinned maniacally as he took potshots at the charging paladin, his armor-piercing rounds did little to slow the incoming warrior.

"So that's your secret!" Alucard chided while thinking to himself_ "I should have brought some of my more impressive toys to play with this one." _

"Permission to get Frau Victoria to safety?" The young swordsman asked,

"Granted." Alucard replied as he ducked underneath what would've been a decapitating strike, "I'll be along shortly."

**BAMF!**

Kurt and Seras reappeared in the spacious courtyard that surrounded the building. The Draculina clutched her stomach and began dry heaving, "I'm told zhe first time teleporting is difficult to bear." Kurt's tone was apologetic as he gently patted her on the back. The fledgling vampire felt a little guilty that she knew next to nothing about the elfin sword enthusiast. Seras had found him as frightening and strange as everything else at Hellsing despite his efforts to be friendly.

"Th-thank you," She said looking up at him and offering a weak smile, "Kurt, right?" Seras queried, "Master usually calls you Darkholme." her tone was apologetic _"Among other things."_

"Kurt Johann Darkholme at your service Frau Victoria." He smiled and gave a courtly bow. Seras's smile became a little less forced,

"Just call me Seras." She told as she tried to stand up. The boy's expression became one of concern seeing the state of her wounds.

"Fra- Seras, if you drank blood it would accelerate your healing." Seras felt her fangs elongate at the mention of blood. She shook her head gaining control of her instincts,

"I-I can't," She said looking her hands quietly, Seras looked up at Kurt trying to verbalize what she felt, "I feel like, like I'd lose something important, my humanity." Darkholme nodded in understanding,

"I can relate," he assured her and pointed at himself with his tail to drive home the point, "Looking the vay I do, I believe though humanity isn't about the flesh. Humanity is in the vill, in our hearts." Seras hugged him and started crying into his shoulder. Kurt comforted her as best he could, he had little experience with crying women.

To his embarrassment he had been the baby of his family, the who had always been in need of comforting. Anna had broken down once when found out she might one day be forced to live without direct human contact. He had done what he could to help her, his mother would comfort Irene she was upset, and next time he saw his mother cry would be the first. Kurt just hugged her back,

"Seras you do need to drink blood though," Kurt told her breaking off the hug and looking her the eye, "it could be a vhile until ve can get you back to a coffin. Don't you have a packet like Herr Alucard?" Seras shook her head in embarrassment,

"I left it at headquarters." Kurt smacked his forehead, even from out here the sounds of battle indicated the No Life King may actually be in need of assistance.

"_Or he's playing vith his food as mother puts it."_ A mildly dangerous idea popped into Kurt's mind, one that went against the common sense that his mother was so fond of. The teleporter rolled up the sleeve of his shirt and held out his arm while he pulled out his cross,

"Drink some of my blood, just a little." Seras looked him in horror and disbelief, "If it becomes to much I'll push you back with the cross I promise." He assured her with a smile, Seras hesitated for a moment before biting down his on his arm just above his wrist. Kurt expected the slight jolt of pain not the...not entirely unpleasant sensation that followed. He read that it was fairly common for a vampire's victim to experience arousal while being drained, something to do with vampiric saliva. Nothing had quite prepared him for this; he tried so very hard to think of something to keep from embarrassing himself, succeeding when he recalled the time he walked in on Walter enjoying one of his gentleman's magazines. Kurt was starting to feel a little lightheaded, "Enough Seras!" The Draculina replied with a deep throated growl. Kurt was about to use his cross when she retracted her fangs. Victoria looked up at him, eyes wide with shame. The blue one's slightly dazed mind did notice Seras seemed to have healed up.

"I'm s-so sorry Kurt I don't know what came over me" she stammered, "your blood, it's like brandy I-I couldn't stop." Darkholme held up a hand to silence her,

"I knew zhat vas a risk but were both fine, as long as I don't have to fight anymore it'll be okay." He assured with a good natured grin,"Thankfully it sounds fairly quiet up there." The sound of shattering glass was deafening as something roughly the size of a football was thrown out the window. It landed on the ground several feet in front of them. It bounced a few times coming to stop in front of them; it was Alucard's severed head complete with sunglasses and a look of utter shock upon his face.

"MAAASTERRR!" Seras cried out in horror,

"Oh Schiess!" Kurt's jaw dropped more in disbelief then anything else (his feelings towards Alucard were very mixed). He knew a good deal about Alucard's past, both from Integra and the vampire himself. Alucard had lived as a true monster across the centuries. Kurt frankly believed that only someone of the Archangel Michel's caliber could end such a being. Apparently it just took a profoundly deranged Scotsman to end the No Life King's five hundred year existence. A tempest of glowing pages swept in, Kurt drew his blade and Seras loaded her gun.

"KURT DARKHOLME!" Anderson roared as he emerged the pages, "I have come to end thy existence wretched Neyaphem!" He told Kurt with a savage grin, at last his true mission could begin. The strange name had perplexed the teleporter, the Paladin's next words hit with the force of a locomotive: "Ye're father shoulda learned many a centuries ago that the servants o' the Lord shall never suffer any o' his seed to live AMEN!"

**Deadpool's Note's**

"Hello true believers it's your favorite mercenary here." Deadpool waves to the audience, "The wirter just wanted to let everyone that Pyro's personality and background are a combination of the cartoon and comic with his own twist. Lastly the next chapter will be more action packed."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven: Trial by Fire Part Two**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize...**

**Badrick, North Ireland...**

The full moon hung over head bathin the courtyard in it's pale light."My father?" Kurt's gasped his amber eyes seemed to glow with a dozen emotions. Growing up his mother had made it very clear the subject was taboo of his parentage. Could Anderson actually know something though? Trying to be mindful of how dangerous the priest was Kurt asked: "Vhat do you know about my father?" The priest looked at him, the moonlight reflecting of his glasses made it difficult for Kurt to read Anderson's expression.

Alexander Anderson wondered if the lad was trying to bluff him. His expression though was one of cautious curiosity, the paladin realized the Darkholme lad knew nothing. Father Anderson gave a long suffering sigh, God's justice was hard but fair. He figured the little demon spawn deserved to at least know why he was about to be skinned alive. The Iscariot operative was surprised by the silver cross around the blue devil's neck, "Tell meh young Darkholme," He queried, "Have ye ever read the Bible?"

"Yes and I alvays pray at least once a day. I'm a mutant like you, not a demon!" Kurt said coldly trying to ignore some the unpleasant childhood memories this was bringing up. Anderson looked down at him in pity.

"Mutants is the term modern science conjures for the like o' us. Truth be told we are the descendants of the Nephilim who are mentioned in the Book of Genesis: "_the sons of God joined with the daughters of men, who bore them children - they were the ancient warriors, the men of renown" _The sons of God referred to a sect of fallen angels who forced themselves upon mortal women spawning oor inhuman forefathers. That is we are laddie!" He told the unnerved looking boy as he became increasingly manic,"not man's evolution but the remnant of celestial sin." His grin threatened to split his face in two as he laughed like a loon.

"Vhat does this madness have to vith mien vater?" Kurt's tail swished back and forth in a manner that reminded Anderson of a cat. One that might run or attack the nearest thing.

"Ah'm a getting to that boy," At this point Anderson sounded oddly like a patronizing parent, "the angels were led by the forgotten archangel Temozarela who only fathered two sons. One rebelled and was blessed with a countenance like unto to angels in heaven while the other remained loyal to his father's dark designs. His countenance was like unto demons of Hell. He and his folk were banished to Tartarus to dwell amidst fire'n'brimstone." He pointed an accusing bayonet at Kurt, "your father though possesses the ability to appear in our world in a flash of hellfire" Kurt's eyes widened,"to seek out women of..."exotic quality" come to know them in the biblical manner."

The young Darkholme felt himself go numb, his sword hit the ground as he looked at his three fingered hands. Kurt had always wondered why he had been different. Over the years he had come to believe that God wanted him to show the world that appearance didn't matter. But what if God had very different intentions? Was his appearance a sign that he was marked like the descendants of Cain for the sins of his father? Was this why his mother never spoke of his father? What if had raped like the fallen angel in the mad priest's tale? Kurt found himself falling to pieces as he tried to figure it all out.

"_Is this really the time to be wallowing in doubt and pity boy?" _An all to familiar chided in his mind, Kurt looked at Alucard's head in disbelief. The head hadn't moved from it's spot,

"Perhaps ye're halfhearted attempts at piety will ea-!" Anderson's head snapped back as a bullet from Seras's elephant gun tore the Judas Priest's skull. Red-eyed and fully-fanged Seras fired several more shots at Anderson tearing meaty chunks out of him. With Kurt's blood flowing her vain she now had a respectable chunk of his memories, with it came a good deal of guilt. Seras felt like she was reading his diary, she knew about the little crush he had on her. How hard he had tried not to stare at her breasts and he had never once tried to peek in her in the shower despite her master offering him that chance. Underneath the fur and fangs lay the soul of a kind, sweet boy. One who didn't deserve to have his sense of self worth ripped apart the claims of a depraved lunatic.

"**Not another word you freak!" **The Nosferatu snarled as she fired off round after round. The Paladin regained his footing the wholes in his body healing as they were inflicted. He charged like an angry bull oblivious to the chunks of flesh being torn out of his body. His survival wasn't a requisite for succeeding in his mission only the destruction of God's enemies. So irregardless of the pain, irregardless of blood loss, and irregardless of all other things he charged through the storm of armor-piercing lead

To the young Darkholme he was a blur, to Seras's burgeoning vampiric senses though the incoming Paladin was presented in glorious HD. The young Draculina felt like she had chased down half a dozen Pixie Sticks with an energy drink and a cup of the world's strongest expresso. On impulse instead firing her rifle at him some more she used a tactic she learn the fragment of Kurt's psyche/soul? She'd have to question Master about that later. She bent her knees and sprung into the air above Anderson and bringing the butt of her sizable gun down on the back of Anderson's skull producing a satisfying crunch sound. The priest went down hard as Seras landed with cat-like grace.

"_She must have drank the Neyaphem's blood,"_ The Priest thought as he got to his feet, through the cracked lenses of his now ruined glasses glared at her. The Draculina's complexion now had paler undertone then he recalled and her eyes were a permanent ruby red. Normally a fledgling vampire didn't change so dramatically from lightly tapping someone's veins the way she had the lad's.

She flashed him smile that might have been considered playful in the absence of fangs. He wondered what effect drinking the boy's demon-tainted blood would have on the Draculina. Anderson knew from ancient texts that certain vampires of old payed tribute to demons and heathen deities. Their dark masters rewarded them with their blood granting the undead truly horrifying power. Many in the Vatican (and Hellsing not the priest knew or cared) sent silent prayers of thanks that such practices had faded into the past.

Anderson's eyes bugged out in realization, _"The boy!" _in his zeal to destroy the vampires he once more lost sight of his true objective. The Nosferatu would always hold special place of hatred in his heart, the boy though represented a threat to Christendom that potentially rivaled the Ottoman Empire, the No-Life King, and Communism.

The stench of hellfire filled the Scotsman's nostrils as the boy appeared him in some attempt at a sneak attack. Alas plenty of vampires could teleport and the Judas Priest had triumphed over them. Anderson drew two more bayonets from his sleeves as whirled around like a twister. The lad blocked with his scimitar, sparks flew as blades connected and the Neyaphem was sent flying back from the blow. Anderson twirled the two blades, through his faith two became six. With three in each hand Anderson hurled the bayonets at Darkholme who bounced across the courtyard like a stone across the surface of a pond.

Kurt was vaguely aware that his own blade had been sent flying by the force of Anderson's parry. He was also aware that trying to fight just after "feeding" Seras was not his brightest move. He was aware that if he survived the battle he would sore and bruised. He was aware that his mother would give him one hell of of a tongue lashing if she didn't outright kill him. He was aware of these things in the back of his mind, first and fore most in Kurt's mind though was the psychotic priest had hurled a volley of bayonets his way. The young mutant teleported out of the way reappearing several feet to the right.

At that moment Seras's elbow slammed into Anderson's back with the force of a cannon ball, "Leave him alone you freak!" Anderson's feet dug in at the moment of impact and turned around with speed of a spinning top. His own elbow connected with her cheek Seras rolled with the blow.

Kurt had just managed to find his Kilij when this happened. He decided to try something he had been trying to perfect for a while. In a flash of yellow, sulfurous smoke he vanished. Normally for the sake of his own safety Kurt would 'port, take note of where he was then attack. He had been on working on delivering blows as he teleported; when it connected and caught his opponent off guard it was effective. Walter and Alucard in their training sessions with him had demonstrated that those two conditions wouldn't always pan and could have painful consequences when the didn't.

Darkholme thanked God it did this time as his blade slashed Anderson across the back severing his spinal cord before he could react. The Paladin howled like a wounded beast as his thick blood sprayed all over Kurt. Seras slammed into to him from the side breaking the regenerator's ribs send the already falling priest into the ground. Kurt grabbed The Draculina arm and teleported them a safe distance away from the rapidly recovering regenerator.

Anderson rose once more drawing more blades from the sleeves of his gray overcoat, "Dinnae think yer gonna be getting away from meh!" As he scraped his blades against one another sending sparks everywhere and sending shivers down Kurt's spine. He had the odd fear that the Priest would not just carve them to pieces but eat them too.

The sounds of helicopter approaching filled the night as a search shined down on Anderson.

"ANDERSON!" Someone with a megaphone and an Italian accent called out from the aircraft which was now hovering over head, "BY ORDER OF HIS HOLINESS WE HAVE BEEN ORDERED TO WITHDRAW AT ONCE!" The two Hellsing agents on the ground didn't recognize the voice but from the way Anderson's eyes widened it was someone the priest knew.

"MAXWELL?" The Scotsman bellowed over the sound of the rotors, the chopper and several figures stepped off. With her flowing platinum hair contrasting with her mocha -colored skin Integra Hellsing was instantly recognizable. The men in suites Kurt knew them to be special agents rather the then actual soldiers he wished had showed up to deal with the Iscariot operative. Said operative was looking at the one Kurt didn't recognize. A handsome man who looked to be in his early twenties with long silver hair tied back in a ponytail. He wore priestly vestments of a considerable finer cut then Anderson's.

"Whut's this Maxwell?" Anderson asked his tone curious...and suspicious. Kurt tried to keep his face straight when he realized what was going on, "Have ye gone daft Enrico? Associatin' wit Babylon there?" He pointed at Integra, if Kurt had been human his face would've red with anger. Not since Joan of Arc had there a stauncher female champion of Christendom then Integra. Enrico seemed both angered and embarrassed over Anderson's words.

"His holiness doesn't want us to risk breaking our treaties with the Protestants. We have no choice but to obey." He said with bitter resignation. At this point Integra chose to add something as she glanced at Alucard's severed head,

"You'd best dally before the one you decapitated stops being a drama queen and reconstitutes himself." Integra drawled with a hint of irritation. Anderson seemed genuinely puzzled, Seras looked hopeful, but as an all too familiar laughter filled the night Kurt felt his temper boil over. As a swarm of black bats flew out from the building and converged on the decapitated head.

"That vas you I heard earlier!" Kurt's snarled as has accent thickened, "You vere alive zhe whole time you..." Kurt was no stranger to profanity having grown up around soldiers, Alucard (who had actually taught him with illustrated flash cards), and Walter. He also recalled one incident with his mother loosing an especially colorful string when he was little over something the vampire had done.

A few bars of soap (a great many in the case of his sister) had gone into ensuring that Kurt seldom used no no words. As Alucard reconstructed his entire body with more pomp and circumstance then was necessary Kurt called the vampire everything he could think of in German and English. He then branched off into insulting Alucard's ancestry..

Integra had hoped to rub the Paladin's nose in her trump card's superior abilities. Darkholme's outburst had snubbed that she knew soldiers needed to blow off steam. She also knew that in his place she'd be livid too. The Lady Knight was also tempered by the fact the boy would probably get his ears pinned back at some point by his mother.

"Anderson," said firmly despite being clearly put off the string of filthy language,"we cannot deal with this abomination like this, I order in the nam-!" Maxwell screamed as pierced his stomach blood ran out from the wound as "he" started to look blue.

"Not another word out a ya harlot!" Anderson grinned malignantly "Ah'm crazy naht stupid." The priest spat as "Maxwell" shifted into into a woman he knew from Vatican intelligence reports. Kurt screamed out in wide-eyed horror as everyone present opened fire on the Judas Priest who simply vanished in a flurry of bible pages. Anderson knew at this point he was out numbered but next time he'd twist that boy's head clean off his shoulders if necessary.

**Xavier Institute, Bayville, New York...**

The living room where most of the fighting had taken place looked like a war zone. The furniture was in pieces or on fire, Scott was on his knees hands behind his head in one corner. Colossus was in another, "You are cowards!" Piotr spat in disgust at Pyro who had one of his flamethrowers aimed at the Professor and Jean who were still unconscious in the center of the room. John, bruised and battered, rolled his eyes,

"Yeah well you throwin' a couch at me kinda knocked some sense into my skull. We shoulda just taken cripple an' the sheila hostage firs' chance we got. Why didn't we do that to start with Pietro?" The white haired Maximoff just glared at the fire-user,

"This is my first home invasion cut me some slack all right?" Pietro spat as he enjoyed some food liberated from the kitchen. Toad was going through the wallets he had taken from Jean and the Professor. Cyclops felt his temper building till he finally burst,

"So what is this about?" Scott demanded, he felt like had been violated, the institute was the first real home he had in years. These thugs had attacked without provocation and taken his friends hostage. Quicksilver who to be the brains or at least the mouth of the Brotherhood. The speedster smirked,

"Well it's like this: you X-Geeks and Professor Dumbledore over there seem to think that people like us and the humans can all get along. My dad see's it differently; their gonna look at us like were freaks and they're gonna try to wipe us out. He's just trying to look for all of us." Pietro explained,

"Your father wishes to protect mutants by attacking mutants?" Piotr asked,

"We don't want it to be like this but Professor Douchebag's planning on getting in our way!" Quicksilver shot back,"Why do you think he started up the X-Men?"

"To teach mutants how to use their powers to help others!" Scott answered hotly, Pietro snorted

"Man chrome dome got to you good!" He laughed making Scott angrier, "Hey Pyro what's that big word start's with an "I" that they used on it that Nazi special on the _History Channel_?"

"Indoctrinated." He answered wondering why Pietro was calling the shots, _"Cause his dad's a mega-mutant who's gonna be to the whole human race what that meteor was to the freakin' dinosaurs."_ The speedster missed his tone or ignored it, he looked at Scott and nodded fervently,

"Your indoctrinated! You only see whathe wants you to see!" Scott raised a dark red eyebrow,

"And your not?" The X-Men leader retorted, Pietro looked more then a little irritated.

"I've seen at school Summers! At how popular you and your girlfriend," He pointed at Jean which despite the severity of the situation elicited an embarrassed reaction from Scott.

"We're just friends!" Scott said quickly, neither Pyro or Quicksilver seemed convinced,

"Yeah sure, you think those people would think your so cool if they knew you guys weren't human? You think they'd even let us go to that school if they knew?"

"Well not if nut jobs like you are their first impression!" Scott spat back, he couldn't but wonder if Pietro was right? The orphanage hadn't reacted well to him blast the roof when his powers kicked in. If the professor hadn't shown up there was no telling what would've happen. His introspective moment was cut short by the sound of a motorcycle pulling up outside.

**Just Outside...**

Logan was seldom a happy man, as a former black ops mercenary with severe PTSD and profound memory issues happiness was seldom in the cards. The moment before had pulled in front of the institute he had been feeling irritable. The rugged Canadian had hit the open road a few weeks ago to clear his head and enjoy the fresh air. That had worked out well enough till he got back into town and the none of the liquor stores in Bayville had any good (meaning non-American) brews and sadly Chuck forbade hard liquor. Logan would've gone out of town to look for a decent lager but a feeling in his gut told he needed back here. Judging from the broken windows the smell of something burning told were a pretty clear sign of things going to hell in his absence,

"I tried tell Chuck we needed to up the trainin' but noooo." The dark haired man grumbled as got off his chopper, biker helmet under one arm and a twelve pack of what amounted to alcohol flavored horse piss. Yeah he really needed to hurt something right now.

**Inside, few seconds later...**

"Who the hell are you!" The white-haired in the leotard demanded, Logan ignored him. He saw Scott and someone he assumed was a new student sitting in the corner like a pair of of misbehaved kids in time out. He saw the guy in orange and red aiming a flamethrower at the professor and red. He could smell the chemical compounds of tranquilizers, "Not bad," Logan complimented to everyone's surprise, "took out the telepaths first and you used a sedative strong enough to knock out a bull elephant. Taking them hostage was a good move too, a little underhand but I've done worse. You should've restrained boy scout and tiny instead of putting them in time out. That'll come back to haunt ya'."

"Loga-!" Scott was cut off by Pietro

"It's our first our first time!" The white-haired one spazzed, "Now hand over the beer and go to the corner!" The kid honestly thought he sounded intimidating. The guy with the flamethrower seemed a little twitchy. He pointed his weapon at the two psychics as trying to show that he was in control.

John had always enjoyed the pros and cons of an active imagination. As the rugged stranger had stepped in the flame-user couldn't help but imagine what kind of novel he'd be the main character of, the man's unshaven, feral features had Pyro envisioning a horror novel. This man would live in the high mountains a charmingly rustic cabin. He'd live peace with the animals and the trees while taking unlucky hikers back to his cabin. There organs would be harvested for meat, the skin would be used for the furniture, and the genitals would be kept in a jar for some heinous purpose.

"Hey calm down pal." The rugged stranger said in a flat tone of voice.

"Didn't you hear me!" Pietro yelled, the stranger ignored him,

"Say "I'm in control" go on say it bub." The stranger said, "You'll feel loads better if you do."

"R-really?"

"Yeah sure bub." Pyro nodded and pulled himself together,

"I'm in control." He said with less sputtering then he expected, it really did help, "Yeah! Johnny's in contr-!" The twelve pack collided with his face knocking him out cold. The arsonist was sent flying, droplets of blood from his broken nose and a few broken teeth made a grizzly leading to his twitching body.

"OH FUCK HE KILLED JOHNNY!" Toad screamed,

"You bastard!" Pietro added and was about to give what he thought would've been a fairly badass speech when he got blasted by Cyclops. Toad grabbed the cash and hopped out the nearest window. Scott and Piotr went to check on Jean and Xavier. Meanwhile Logan went to see if the beer was alright, _"So Magneto made the first move, can't say I'm shocked." _He respected Xavier on a lot of levels but the man tried too hard to shelter the kids. They'd be full of questions when he came too, and he couldn't but wonder how the professor would answer them. Logan shook his and set about about helping to clean up.

**Somewhere in Tyrol, Austria...**

It was still dark out even though dawn was fast approaching. A young girl of sixteen years rode her moped along the winding roads. If a cop pulled her over the ID she'd give would identify her as one "Marion Marie Adler" it wasn't her real name or even her preferred name but she'd answer to it. Rogue was the name she picked for herself and the one she used. Not that she was liable to disobey traffic laws, roadways in Europe were considerably more hazardous then there American counterparts as a rule of thumb. She was given to understand they were pretty much built on top of old roman roads. While they may have worked for horses and chariots, motor vehicles met with very mixed results.

She had steered clear of the autobahn and had only braved a round about once in her life. The old roman roads were were somewhat safer. Rogue would have felt safer if she were being protected by an army led by Julies Caesar or... come to think of it she really didn't know a lot of Roman history. The only other important Roman she of was the one Kurt had told her about, Constantine, had he ever lead an army? She'd ask the fuzzball next he visited.

"_Roman roads, Christ" _It was a concept that struck the American girl as surreal. It made her realize how new her country was in the grand scheme of things. Back in Mississippi people bragged if they had ancestors who had wore Confederate Gray during the War of Northern Aggression, the Civil War to those north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Here there were families bragged because their ancestors had worn chain mail during the Crusades. She wondered if Muslims called the Crusades the War of Christian Aggression? Another question for Kurt, religious and military histories were his passion.

You could feel the history here, the Southern girl enjoyed it. She had no real history as far as her birth family was concerned, this place had enough to spare. Rogue had lived in Austria for two years now, and pretty much enjoyed it. The weather was colder but a white Christmas was nice, even if snowball fights with an acrobatic teleporter were terribly one sided. The language barrier had been quickly over come having been raised in a German speaking family. The food here wasn't as salty or sweet as what was served state side but once you got used to it was great. She could buy beer legally and Irene let her once while as long as she didn't drink before driving or go overboard.

Rogue had gone to one of the nearby villages to pick up some freshly baked bread and pastries. Irene had been a little under the weather lately so Marion figured she'd surprise (if a clairvoyant could be surprised) her with some breakfast. Rouge wouldn't have been surprised if Irene was already up making coffee for the both of them.

Rogue though was surprised to see Irene throwing a couple of suitcases into the back of a taxi, "Raven's been hurt, your brother's in hysterics!" Irene explained quickly, "I packed for you as best as I could, bring the pastries were stopping until we get to the airport".

**Author's Note: **Hope you liked it in case your wondering Temozarela is from a Korean manga called _Priest _a good horror series even if the writer knew next to nothing about American history. The truth about Anderson's tale well be reviled eventually. This chapter didn't pan exactly like I hoped but I'm happy with it none the less.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight: Rogue Recovery**

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing!

**Hellsing Manor, near London...**

Mystique lay in bed pondering all the horrifying things she'd do to Anderson once she got her hands on him. She was willing to bet the Vatican's attack on Kurt was not a random event, _"If they know who Kurt's father is this will only get worse." _The guilt though was eating at her as she glanced at a small cross that hung on the wall of the recovery room.

As the daughter of a Lutheran minister she spent a good deal of her childhood memorizing scripture. She couldn't help but recall that God had no trouble punishing children for the sins of their parents. He killed the first born children of Egypt to break the Pharaoh's will. King David's affair with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah resulted in grim fates for several of his children.

Raven knew she had hardly led a virtuous life but after meeting Abraham van Helsing and even more so after meeting Irene she had tried to work for the greater good. She had helped Arthur against the Third Reich, she had served east and west during the Cold War working both sides to prevent nuclear annihilation, and that...debacle with Lensherr had started out as an effort to safe guard mutantkind.

Looking back Raven knew she had just as much been drawn in by the promise of power as she had been by the prospect of helping her own. Raven though saw Eric's betrayal as a consequence of letting her aspirations get the better of her common sense not as divine punishment. Arthur had been right to call Magneto "a tyrant seeking a throne". Genetics were irrelevant, people who were driven by near Alexandrian ambitions would do anything to accomplish their goals.

Mystique tried to ignore the pain as best she could as she adjusted her pillows. At this point she needed to think not rest, she was fairly familiar with the reprobates Iscariot deployed to do it's dirty work. Since Anderson had failed that probably meant Maxwell would take a somewhat more subtle approach to going after her son. That probably meant a visit from Heinkel and Yumiko, Raven was fairly confident she could handle the former. The schizo-samurai nun though might prove problematic without back up though. She began formulating appropriate strategies to deal with the inevitable conflicts.

**...**

Rogue had at times felt like her mother was a stranger to her for many reasons. Darkholme's adopted daughter knew next to nothing about her mother's past and until now had only a vague ideal about what she did for a living. She would usually visit at least one weekend a month and call once a week. During her visits Raven would always spend time her and make a point of finding out how she was doing but was almost always evasive when it came to talking about herself.

But always she would leaving saying that she had to take care of her brother in Europe. As a child this had confused and hurt her; she didn't understand at the time why Kurt got to live with their mother and she couldn't. Rogue then made the mistake of talking to the kids at her school about her problems. Some of the older kids taunted her by saying that as an adopted child she wasn't as loved as Kurt. As a child who had been care of social services since the age of two it was an insinuation that struck at the core of her insecurities.

Meeting Kurt and understanding the hardships he endured had alleviated most of those fears, he needed their mother in ways she didn't. Kurt himself though helped with those fears in more ways then he probably understood. None of the caregivers at the orphanage or the foster homes the state had placed her in had ever shown any genuine interest in her well being. Add to this the possibility her birth parents might have just abandoned her the result had been that she felt unloved and unwanted.

Raven and Irene were strict but never cruel or neglectful of her needs. The latter's absence however had for a time cast doubt on rather or not they really cared at times. With Kurt though was no doubt about rather or not he cared. One look into his eyes told and she could see how much he loved her, how much he looked up to her. The summers they'd spent together were easily the best memories of her childhood. In time she had became somewhat able to accept Raven's cryptic nature.

In regards to her occupation Raven had been slightly more open, telling her that she had a government job in England. Rogue now knew that was the truth at a basic level, though she left out the fact that she worked in fortified manor in the English countryside. By the time Irene moved her to Austria she had figured from various she heard (and overheard) that her mother was some kind of secret agent or black ops soldier.

Looking back Rogue now she and her brother had been groomed to follow in her mother's footsteps. After all how many parents taught their daughters hand-to-hand combat, fencing, forgery, and how to use and maintain firearms among a few other odd skills. Rogue didn't mind the lessons, the physical training was a great outlet for her temper and did wonders for her developing figure. Sparing with Kurt was also a surprisingly fun way to spend time together, in pure hand to hand she dominated while her brother trounced her in fencing.

Learning to forge her mother's signature had allowed her to purchase some dedicates her parents might not have approved of and got with away with it. The thing that hurt though was how distant her mother was, she knew Raven cared but as long as the barrier existed in between them those little insecurities would remain in the back of her mind. Rogue had been afraid of losing her mother but even more so the girl was afraid of losing her without knowing who she really was.

As she walked the halls of the sprawling manor escorted by a soldier Rogue though couldn't help but feel a perverse excitement. On the way here from the airport Irene had told that "the time secrecy is at an end" maybe now she and her mother could now enjoy the closeness she felt with Kurt and Irene. But as Rogue glanced at the assault rifle her escort carried she couldn't help wonder about what until now had been their elephant in the room. What kind of things did her mother do for these people? Irene had explained that the man who had done this her mother had actually been after Kurt. What the hell was Kurt doing?

"_At least they're both alright, that's what matters the most." _She reminded herself,

"Excuse me Miss Adler," The soldier said, "Colonel Darkholme's room is the last one on the left."

She thanked the soldier and suddenly found herself standing in front of the door. Her fears and questions weighed down on her. Rogue's arm felt like a lead weight as she knocked.

…**.**

There was a soft knock on her door, "Come in," Raven said wondering who it could be. The door opened revealing a young woman of sixteen years, her shoulder-length hair was chestnut brown save for her bangs which were snow white. Rogue's gray eyes regarded her mother with concern,

"Mama," She asked quietly, "Are ya okay?" Raven smiled warmly and nodded,

"I'm fine dear, I'm guessing Irene is here too?"

"Yeah she went to go calm Kurt down." Rogue said as she walked in, her mother was torn between joy at seeing her daughter and horror at what she was wearing: a black see-through shirt that she wore over a black tank top, black hip hugger jeans, and black gloves. To say the teen had embraced gothic fashion was an understatement. Mystique wondered if teenage girls purposefully chose outfits with thoughts of elevating their parent's blood pressure in mind. Raven's own choice of attire and ruthless use of sex as a weapon over the years was forgotten at moment.

Noticing the other's expression Rogue crossed her arms and glared, "Ya know Irene said ya almost died but if yer feelin well enough to give me grief about what Ah'm wearin then I guess yer fine." The blue-skinned woman buried her face in her hands out of embarrassment,

"Forgive me dear, a mother's mind works in strange ways." She looked up at Rogue with a sardonic grin on her face, "Though it's not very nice of you to take advantage of Irene's condition when you go clothes shopping."

"I have no idea what yer talkin about mother." She replied trying to keep her expression and her tone innocent and not succeeding very well. It was an amusing moment that relived the tension between the two. Deciding this had been put off long enough Mystique asked:

"Rogue I'm going to assume you have questions, so ask away." Her daughter was silent for a moment glancing around,

"Well for starters what is this place?"

"Hellsing Manor," Raven noticed her daughter raise a single dark eyebrow. Like many her age Rogue had embraced the vampire craze but with a preference for titles such as _Interview with a Vampire _and _Salem's Lot _to more recent novels. Raven guessed she was somewhat familiar with Abraham's exploits, there was only one way to tell if that would help or hinder; "Rogue before I begin please keep in mind that I'm not known my sense of humor. Futher keep in mind that we ourselves our mutants possessing powers and attributes outside of what most people would consider possible." Rogue's expression shifted from curiosity to disbelief as her mother explained Hellsing's mission and that vampires and the occult were very real,

"Let meh get straight now," Marion said holding up a hand to stop Raven for a moment, "Dracula was based on a real story and after offin' the Count he set up this place up to hunt down the rest of the vampires in the name of Queen and Country?"

"Not everything in the novel was accurate, Abraham changed a few details before he had the novel published. For one he didn't kill Dracula he instead broke the vampire and bound him using his knowledge of the occult, frankly though I really wished he had sent the Count to the blackest pits of Hell!" Raven spat, the anger gave Rogue pause. Her mother wasn't know for practical jokes and her anger seemed genuine.

"Yer serious about this? Dracula is real?"

"Oh yes he is," Raven said somberly she looked at her daughter who in turn regarded her with a look of amusement, "He no longer uses that name but yes, Count Dracula is very real I'm afraid." There was a glimmer of interest in Rogue's eyes that she found very concerning, "Sweetie I need you to understand something with crystal clarity: as very good rule of thumb vampires are voracious, blood thirsty, unstable monsters. There are a few examples of their kind who learn to control their base instincts but they are rare and he is not one of them."

"Ya know considering what we are and how yer afraid of people treatin' us should ya be so quick to judge an entire group of people?" Rogue asked dryly,

"No I'm not being quick to judge, I've been hunting vampires for over a century." Seeing the look of surprise and confusion on Rogue's face the shapeshifter elaborated: "Thanks to my abilities I don't age, I have known many vampires and the teeming majority of are truly monsters."

"How old are y-"

"I was a child when Germany united under the Kaiser." Noticing Rogue looking even more confused she added, "It was around the time of the American Civil War but please don't do the math I feel old enough just thinking about it." She noticed though that Rogue was far from amused, she sat herself at the foot of the bed arms crossed. Her head hung low, "What's wrong dear?"

"Why is it Ah'm just findin' out about this now? Why don't ya ever tell meh or Kurt anything about yerself?" Her voice filled with anger began to crack, her accent thickening and choked with emotion "Do ya know what's like for meh? Feelin' lahke am bein kept in the dark everything? A-a-ah almost lost ya and Ah know nuthin about ya! Yer lahke a stranger to meh!" Raven placed a hand on her daughter's trembling shoulder,

"Rogue, Anna I kept you out to try and let you enjoy as normal a childhood as possible. The thing I wish to God I could've done for Kurt, he's practically spent his entire life growing in this place. I'm sure you've seen the guards, the walls, the barbed wire, this was no place for a child to grow up. In regards to my past for the most part it's an unhappy tale about an angry, foolish woman who's made virtually every mistake possible. Maybe I shouldn't have tried to shelter for you so long but you had such a hard time when you found out about the," Raven trying to think of a delicate way to put it,"complications you may have with your abilities. We didn't want put anything else on your plate. If you want to learn about me Rogue I'll tell over time but keep in mind my past is not an easy thing to discuss." Rogue was silent, her face turned away. Slowly she inhaled and exhaled,

"Well Ah guess bein immortal and savin' people from vampires is pretty neat." Rogue admitted and then laughed, "Ya know for a while Ah had this crazy mental image of ya workin' for some nutjob bent on world domination or somethin' like that considerin' how cryptic ya were about it." Outwardly Raven just smiled and rolled her eyes,

"No Integra is far more frightening then any super villain as you'll learn when I introduce you." Mystique was suddenly struck with an ideal, "Did you bring any formal wear? The right choice of attire can make a good first impression." Rogue raised an eyebrow at the sly expression on her mother's face.

"No, Ah don't think I even own skirt that reaches my knees." She answered enjoying the look of exasperation on her foster parent's face. The older woman took a deep breath before speaking,

"Well then how about tomorrow we go to London and go shopping for something formal, just you and me." Rogue's eyes lit up, she may never had been prone to the shopaholic tendencies that some teens possessed but seriously who wouldn't be exited about shopping in London?

"Fer real just you and meh?" Raven nodded, it had been far to long since they had done anything together,

"We'll make a day of it dear and perhaps find something to cheer up Kurt. I heard he's taken this really hard."

"Heard? Kurt hasn't visited you yet?" Rogue was truly surprised,

"When I came to he was passed out right where you are, apparently he stayed here all night," She explained sadly, her tone and demeanor quickly became stern, "Despite his own injuries and the fact that he should've been resting especially considering that boneheaded stunt he pulled with feeding that bimbo!" She seethed, Rogue was fairly used to her mother's occasional mood swings but raised an eyebrow at the last part,

"Feeding?"

"Seras Victoria, the No Life King's new fledgling and the agency's newest recruit." Rogue's eyes widened in horror,

"Oh gawd she drank his blood! Doesn't that mean he'll turn int-" Raven cut her off,

"She didn't take nearly enough don't worry, if she had I would've cut her heart out myself!" The older woman needed a moment to calm down.

"Why on Earth did he feed her anyway?" Her mother sighed and explained,

"One she was injured to the point that only drinking blood would help her heal quickly, your brother being the borderline moronically noble person he is offered his own," With a look of disapproval she went on,"also because the boy is foolishly smitten with her, thankfully Seras does fall into the category of "good" vampire." To her surprise Rogue seemed somewhat amused,

"It's actually kinda sweet if you think about it," Mystique's jaw dropped in disbelief,"come on he swooped in to rescue his fair damsel in distress. I'm not gonna deny it's a little macabre but still ya have admit it's nice that he's crushing on a girl who isn't one of the Sailor Scouts." For the first time in God only knew how long Raven Darkholme found herself unable to form a coherent word. Her own children were going to succeed where Wolverine, Magneto, and Father Anderson had failed, they would be the end of her.

"I'm too weak to even argue with that at this point." She groaned in defeat but was giving serious thought to torching Rogue's collection of vampire romance novels.

"Mama?" Raven noticed the girl's tone was suddenly serious. Looking up the shapeshifter could see a look of realization upon on her face.

"Yes?"

"Does what happened to this Victoria lady have anythin' to do with what happened to you an' Kurt?" Raven paused before answering, as a child Rogue been prone to leaping before looking. Her amber eyes regarded Rogue wondering if telling her about Anderson would result in an attempt to take on all of Vatican city by herself. She and Irene spent a good bit teaching the girl to think about the consequences of her actions. Perhaps now would be the best time to learn rather or not those lessons had sunk in or not then in the field.

"Before I answer that I need you to understand is that over the years the most important thing I've picked up over the years isn't learning to strike: it's learning when," Raven sighed before added,"and when not too." She deliberately added a note of finality to see how well the girl could reign in her temper. To her pleasant surprise Rogue simply sighed and said;

"A time and a season for all things."

"Did you hear that from Kurt?" Raven asked recognizing the quote from Proverbs.

"Irene said that to meh just before we got here." There was certainly anger in the young woman's as she elaborated; "She said there'd be a time for pay back".

"There's a good bit of wisdom in that, I can assure that there will be a time when I suspect the man who sicked that monster on Kurt will be the victim of a tragic accident." Rogue swallowed hard upon hearing the cold amusement in her mother's voice.

"Will killin' this man solve anythin'?" Rogue asked, her tone conflicted as she looked upon her mother feeling unnerved. The woman who had raised her, who was her mother in all but blood was talking about killing another human being like she'd enjoy it. Raven seemed to pick up on what her daughter was feeling,

"The man in question is a Catholic priest named Enrico Maxwell, he is the head of the Vatican's Special Operations Division. To address any moral issues you might have I want you to fully understand he ordered Kurt's assassination. Your little brother, my son, not for anything he did but simply for that which was beyond his control. He sent a man named Father Anderson, a profoundly unstable mutant who has been known to rip apart vampires with his bare hands." Rogue paled, clearly torn between anger and horror, "Enrico over the past few years has managed to incur the wrath of virtually every intelligence agency on the planet by showing a very blatant disregard for treaties and backdoor agreements made by his predecessors. Even in the church there are those who look upon his growing power in fear. As long no foul play is suspected it will solve our problems. Even if they suspect otherwise I'll make sure that it falls on someone else, ideally a target they'd hesitate to go after which works just as well. My guess is his successor would most likely be a moderate interested in restoring credibility."

"Ya know a lot about this kinda thing," Rogue had no idea how she was supposed to feel about her mother's...comfort with killing. She wondered if she might have been happier with Raven's job being a mystery.

"I've been doing this sort of thing for over a century Rogue," She explained,"as a soldier and a spy for angels and devils alike. I won't deny that I've done things that many would consider reprehensible." Raven took her daughter's hand, looking Rogue in the eyes, "But for Kurt's sake and for yours I've kept to the side of the angels." The young woman saw a look in her mother's golden eyes she had seen only twice before. The first time was when her mother revealed her true form. The second was when both Raven and Irene explained that they were a couple to her and Kurt.

One of the many things she had been taught was how to read people, she wondered if her mother had expected to be the one being analyzed. Though she kept her face composed Rogue then and even more so now could see the cracks in the mask the other woman wore. Underneath the strict and borderline anal personality was someone who lived in fear, first and foremost was fear of rejection. Rogue could almost see the other woman as a scared little deep underneath the cold an confident facade.

By the time she was eight, Rogue had already been bounced from the orphanage to several foster homes and back when Raven had adopted her. The foster parents she had before were always horrible people who wore masks of decency and moral integrity but underneath were anything but. Raven and Irene didn't pretend to be saints, they had their flaws no doubt but they loved her and would clearly look out for both their children. What more could you want from parents? Did anything else matter?

"_Not really,"_Rogue concluded,_ "and if this Maxwell guy is even half the bastard she says he is the man has it comin'." _She gently brushed a few stray strands of hair out of her mother's face. According to Irene her powers could manifest any time now and to avoid any human contact, _"Please let meh have this one little favor, please." _She kissed her mother on the forehead. "Yer meh mother, nothin' else matters. Ah didn't know what a family was until you, Irene, and the portin' furball took meh in." Raven felt tears sting her eyes as she hugged her child feeling that perhaps fate hadn't been so cruel after all.

**Author's Notes: **What did you folks think about this? I had devoted a good bit of time to showing how Kurt had and wanted to do the same for Rogue in this chapter. As I've said before this is AU things will be different. Another thing I wanted was to show that Raven still has flaws to deal with, though she's better adjusted in this fic then canon. Feel free to review and ask any questions you want, peace out!

PS: Rogue's powers haven't kick in yet but will very soon.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine: Looking to the Future...**

**The Xavier Institute, Bayville, New York...**

Charles Xavier lay in the bed of the recovery room of the Institute's medical ward, his mind felt numbed from the tranquilizers but he was awake at least. Logan stood at the foot of his bed smoking a cigar in complete disregard for the no smoking sign. The Canadian's expression seemed more distant then usual, something he did in situations that would have other pacing back and forth pulling their hair out. Seeing him concerned curbed Xavier's desire to express his dislike for the presence of the cigar. The Professor sat up and rubbed his eyes, "How long have I been out Logan?"

"A few days Chuck, you and red nearly OD'ed on those tranqs, thankfully I managed to get a hold of McCoy. Jean regained conciseness a few hours ago, Storm's taking care of her right now." Logan sighed, "Look do you want the bad news, the worse news, or the worst of it first?"

"I'll take the worst of it Logan." The took a long drag on his cigar before answering,

"After you and Jean were knocked the Brotherhood attacked. Slim and Ruskie got into it with them but surrendered when the firebug threatened to flambe you and red."

"Are the children alright?" Xavier gasped in horror as the adrenaline flushed what remained of the tranquilizer out his system. To his relief Logan nodded,

"They're fine physically," the Canadian answered, "Luckily yours truly arrived to save the day but it was all a distraction." Logan shook his head, "While they were fighting out someone got into your study and managed to take most of Cerebro." While Xavier found this news alarming his reaction was far calmer,

"The important thing is that the children are safe." Xavier said, "A machine can be rebuilt, lives not so much." Looking up at Logan he asked, "I am curious as to how did they manage to make they're way past the others?"

"It was a single kid, a teleporter. Popped right in, found Cerebro and started taking it apart piece by piece. He then ported it out piece by piece, smart little shit." Logan growled,

"That is no way to speak of a child." Charles said disapprovingly,

"He had a rifle slung over his shoulder Chuck!" Logan exclaimed,"McCoy said if the dosage had been any higher you and red wouldn't have woken up at all. I'll show you the security footage later, he dresses in preppy clothes and whistled while he worked but he had a look I haven't in a kid's eyes since Somalia." He said quietly, "I don't know what the Hell Magneto's playin' at turning someone like that loose but after we do damage control I'm going to start giving the team extra training."

"Damage control?" Xavier asked afraid that their secrecy may have been compromised,

"The kids want answers, I've put it off but your going to have to talk to them. Thanks to Maximoff's big mouth they know the Brotherhood answers to someone." Charles hung his head low, "I know you and Magneto had an understanding but it seems pretty obvious that it wasn't worth the paper it was printed on."

"In recent years I have more and more feared it would come to something like this," Xavier admitted, "I thought that I would have had more time to prepare though." He looked up at Logan, "They're so young and we're out numbered. The upgraded Cerebro model will take time to complete, as such we're at Eric's mercy" Wolverine snorted,

"Eric's mercy? Bit of an oxymoron ain't it?" Wolverine then pointed at himself as he said, "I can give these kids the training they should've had from the start. I'm not gonna give them guns or anything like that I've seen kids who've been turned into soldiers," He added grimly seeing the look on Chuck's face,"but they need to have a better understanding about what they're up against. How much you tell them is up to you but the cat's out of the bag at this point." Xavier nodded,

"I'll speak to them this evening." Xavier said grimly, "and Cerebro?"

"We're just going to go ahead finish the new model you started building in the subbasement. It'll be better protected down their for one thing. If your worried about recruitment Ororo thinks that nephew of hers might have powers. I've also called in a few favors to some contacts of mine to keep their ears open for anything odd. We've got a couple possible hits and a potential clusterfuck." Xavier gave Logan a disapproving look regarding his use of profanity.

"What do you mean by...that?" The rugged Canadian pointed to a newspaper on the stand next to his bed. It was a copy of the _Chicago Tribune_, Xavier picked it up. The front page of detailed a bizarre tragedy in a small town in Illinois. Xavier furrowed his eyebrows as read the article, "My God," he said softly, "I think your right, obviously one of these two is a mutant but which one? Pride or Alvers?"

"Not sure but we've gotta find these kids. I'll take Jean and see if we can track them down the old fashioned way asap."

"Why not Storm?" Logan shook his head,

"One, those kids need to start getting experience outside of the Danger Room. Two, from now on either me or Storm need to be present here at all times until the kids are able to hold out on their own." That struck Xavier as being sensible, he gave Logan a grateful smile, "Thank you for keeping things in order old friend." The other man shrugged,

"It's nothing Chuck I'll go let the others know you're alright." With that Logan left the room leaving the Professor X to his own thoughts.

**Hellsing Manor, London...**

In yellow flash of sulfurous smoke Kurt and Rogue appeared on the roof of the old manor. After years being ported by her brother Marion wasn't even phased by it anymore. The two siblings sat down and opened the small cooler they brought with them, "Ah love Europe, land of no legal drinkin' age." Rogue said as she opened a beer, " Wanna share? I won't finish a whole one on meh own." Kurt raised an eyebrow as he fished a beer of his own out of the cooler. Once when they younger Rogue had managed to swipe a six pack of beer from somewhere and the two had snuck out into the woods to drink. She had downed three whole cans by herself before their mother had caught them. Kurt winced when he remembered how she had reacted to that, it really hadn't been pretty, "You usually have more then that Rogue."

"Well bein' allowed to have alcohol takes takes half the fun of it out." She commented, "If God had just called them apples instead of "Forbidden Fruit" the serpent wouldn't have had such an easy time of it." Rogue glanced at Kurt hoping she hadn't offended him. She didn't put much stock into religion but knew it was a major part of her brother's life. The blue elf looked fairly thoughtful to her relief, he took a sip of his own beer before replying,

"An interesting point," he admitted and then looked at her warily,"So if you're told not to do something your first impulse is to do it?"

"Well they do call meh the Rogue fer a reason." She pointed out with a grin. For a while they sat in comfortable silence watching the stars which were partly obscured by the lights of London. It was something they had had done since they were kids, because of Kurt's appearance they had almost always played outside after dark. Star gazing, catching fireflies, and camping out in the backyard, activities made all the more enjoyable by the fact Kurt could see in the dark far better then ordinary humans.

"It's like vhen ve vere kids is it not?" He said voicing his thoughts, Rogue nodded,

"You and meh out at night and our mother off Gawd knows where, sounds like old times." She said wistfully, "At least now Ah have a better idea of what's goin on." Rogue noticed Kurt hung his head, "Hey Ah'm not angry at ya fuzzy. Mama told ya not say anythin' to meh."

"Are you angry at our mother?" He asked hesitantly, Kurt really hated the way the rest of his family would argue. Rogue took a sip of her drink with before answering,

"No," Rogue said,"we've made our peace." Kurt looked relieved at that, "She was just lookin' out for meh."

"Of course she was," Kurt said sounding surprised,"she's our mother and only vants vhat is best for us." Rogue sighed as her expression became distant,

"Ya gotta understand fuzzy trust is hard fer meh." She looked at the silver cross around her brother's neck, "Havin faith is hard for me. But mama seems to know whut she's doin so I'll give just trusting her a shot." Kurt smiled,

"And faith?" Rogue raised an eyebrow

"You preachin' to me elf?" Kurt shook his head at the mildly dangerous look on her face,

" I vould never try to tell you vhat to do." Her expression went from dangerous to pleased, "I'm just saying you should find something to believe in. Vhat that is something you have find on your own." Rogue stared at her brother with a truly surprised looked on her face, "Vhat?"

"You've grown up Kurt." He looked at her with his amber eyes smiling in way the showed off one of his fangs. Their was a confidence there she hadn't seen before,

"I've spent every moment possible studying and training. Our mother taught me the basics of fighting and fencing, Valter and Integra showed me how to take it to the next level. All of them taught about fighting the supernatural and thanks to that...vell debacle," Kurt didn't like the idea of using profanity in front his sister," in Badrick I now have first hand experience. I'm really trying to put as positive a spin on it as possible." He said running a hand through his hair. Next time he would know not expect help from Alucard. He would also make a point of taking Anderson's head off for what he did to their mother.

"Ah guess that's a healthy approach." Rogue said, "So any idea whut mom's off doin?" Kurt shrugged,

"Aunt Irene said it was a recruitment mission of some kind. It's nice to have her around again," he then seemed perplexed, "But I haven't seen either of them around much." Rogue waited till Kurt took a swig from his drink,

"They've probably been havin sex." She said as offhandedly as possible and then smirked at the sounds of her brother choking,

"Gott en Himmiel!" He cried out between coughs, "Vhat is vrong vith you! I don't vant to think about zhat!"

"Hey I've actually walked in on them more the once. A few uncomfortable mental images are nothing compared to what I've seen." She said as she finished her own drink,

"I forgot how evil you could be." Kurt groaned, "I've heard that older sisters are suppose to protect their little brothers and be a positive influence on them." Rogue looked at him indignantly,

"Ah saved ya from that cottonmouth when you were eight."

"You brought it into the house in the first place," He then remembered something else,"you brought a whole box of snakes into the house!"

"Ah was tryin the show you the different kinds of poisonous snakes we had in Mississippi so you'd know not to go near them. If ya hadn't screamed like a baby girl when ah opened the lid it woulda been fine." She insisted,

"I did not scream like a girl!" Kurt said hotly,

"Yeah ya did," She countered,"it was actually kinda cute, your voice used to be higher pitched then mine." Rogue ruffled his hair. Kurt glowered at her trying to think of a retort,

"Oh ja," he started, trying to think of something,"vell...vell you have man hands and a big butt!" Kurt's his impish quickly vanished under the death glare Rogue was giving him.

"You're dead!" she snarled as she chased Kurt across the roof.

Down below Integra watched the two ran across the roof of the manor, "What in God's name is wrong with those two?" She had been an only child with no friends and as such had no idea what to make of the scene on the roof top. The blind woman next to her sighed,

"They are siblings and siblings do fight on occasion." Irene then added, "It's really more of a chase."

"Aren't you worried they'll get hurt?"

"Kurt never hits back and they're both surefooted enough that they won't fall. Rogue will catch him soon enough ." Irene said offhandedly,

"She's almost as agile as he is." Integra comment as Rogue leapt over a over a chimney to tackle her blue-furred brother, "Is she normally that rough with the boy?" she asked with worry,

"It's a very rare occurrence and I wouldn't even call it rough considering that with the training they've both had they could doing far worse to each other." The older woman explained, "Rogue would never intentionally do anything to actually wound Kurt."

"It strikes me as a rather childish to be doing." The blonde haired woman commented,

"They are children." Irene said sadly, "Children, who in their own way understand that they have reached their childhood's end and want one last moment of innocence." Integra regarded them, the light reflecting off her glasses obscured her face as she watch the two teens.

"Miss Adler, in the wake of the incident at Badrick I'd like to keep the two of them out of combat until they are of proper age. The same thing goes for that one Colonel Darkholme is trying to find, I want them trained but no actual combat."

"With all due respect milady they need this; isolation will not prepare them for the future." Integra had a skeptical look to her as she looked at the self proclaimed seer. During the Cold War both sides had wasted shameful resources on precognitives with little to no results. Irene Adler was supposedly the real thing, her seemed to think so along with Raven. None the less Integra took the woman's advice with a grain of salt fee;ing only God could provide infallible revelations regarding the future.

"What does the future hold?" The knight asked dryly,

"Within the next two or three years mutants will be exposed." Irene answered, truth be told she found Integra's skepticism regarding her visions it was refreshing compared to how dangerously dependent Raven was on them, "I know you want specifics but you must understand an event if this magnitude may have many possible catalysts and twice many outcomes. In time things will become clearer, we need to be prepared to handle this crisis."

"You are aware that I have a meeting with the Round Table in a month." Integra said dryly, "You are aware that they'll want something more then a few cryptic words."

"Tell the Knights of the Round Table that they will have a sword. A team of individuals with the power and training to handle supernatural threats and the coming strife." Integra had to admit she was intrigued, SHIELD had been considering something along those lines for years.

"A team? You think this would be approved?"

"In time it will be," Irene said cryptically,"for now I'm just hoping that Raven does succeed in reaching the girl there is the possibility another will find her first."

**Xavier Institute, Bayville, New York...**

"With all due respect sir," Scott was really trying to keep his cool, "We had a right to know to know which of our classmates would try to kill us!" Jean placed a hand on Scott's shoulder trying to keep him calm,

"I'm sure the Professor had his reasons." Even as she defended him Xavier could see the hurt in her eyes as well. Piotr sat in one of the chair behind his fellow students, his perpetually stoic expression masked any opinions he had on the matter.

"Scott I understand your anger, I was afraid that if you were aware of the Brotherhood it would've created problems." Scott stared at him in disbelief,

"What did you think we'd do? Go after them?"

"We know better then that Professor." Jean said quietly, she brushed a few stray strands of her red hair out of her face as she looked at Colossus,"What do think Peter?" the large Russian seemed surprisingly embarrassed about having attention called to himself. Despite the circumstances she couldn't help but smile, it seemed that despite his size Piotr was quite shy. He reverted back to regular stoic mood quickly enough,

"My brother served in the military and once said that he wasn't which was deadlier: the secrets kept by the enemy or those kept by his superiors." He said quietly his expression a little more distant then usual. Xavier knew of the young man's family history and that despite his outward appearance he probably was just as upset as Scott.

"I made an error in judgment and I hope that you can forgive me." He told them, Scott seemed to calm down some,

"Sir?" He asked, Xavier already knew what his student was going to ask, "Pietro said that they worked for hi-"

"His father," The Professor hung his head this was not a subject he enjoyed going into,"A very powerful mutant named Erik Lensherr, he also goes by Magneto."

"So what's this guy's damage?" Scott asked,

"Growing up Erik witnessed first hand the absolute worst of human nature. The horrors he witnessed left him angry and bitter," The Professor explained gravely, "they also convinced him that humanity is incapable of accepting mutants. That unless we strike first, mutantkind will be exterminated." The students were silently what could drive someone to have such a grim world view. Jean was the next one to speak,

"Does he really feel that way about people?"

"Yes, which is what makes him so dangerous. He sees himself as the only thing standing between our species and genocide, as such there is no means he won't use to accomplish his goals. I even have reason to believe he may have murdered one of his own supporters many years ago." Everyone except Ororo and Logan had looks of horror at the revelation, "Now I am afraid we must turn our attention to other issues. During our incapacitation a tragedy occurred in Illinois that I fear may mutant related"

**Author's Notes: **Hey sorry for the lack of updates and for the lack of action. I promise the chapter after next will feature some fightscenes if all goes as planned. So will Kitty Pride be found by the X-Men or Hellsing? One thing to warn you is that Kitty will be very different then she was in the series due to certain events hint at in this chapter.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten: Little Lost Kitten**

**Chicago, Illinois, A Week Later...**

A small figure was wandering through one of Chicago's less reputable neighborhoods in a pink hooded jacket. Passing under a streetlight strands of long brown hair could be seen, the rest of the young girl's face hidden under the hood. She glanced at a missing persons poster taped to the brick wall opposite of the lamppost. She sat down the small book bag she had slung over her shoulder and walked over to get a closer look. The picture was of a bright-eyed fifteen year old girl with a ponytail. According to the poster the girl's name was Katherine Pride, the one in the jacket pulled down her hood. Kitty as she had been known to her few friends was barely recognizable. Gone was the radiant, happy expression in the photo and in it's place was a numb look. There were now bags under her clear blue eyes from lack of sleep and her long brown hair once done up in a ponytail now seemed to be getting only the minimal amount of care and attention.

At moments like these it was so hard to believe that it had been only a week ago she had been a normal girl. A week ago she had been living happily in the suburbs with both her parents, an increasingly rare thing. It hadn't been a perfect life; she had been an only child with very few friends. Both of her parents had been only children themselves which meant she had no other living relatives. Her good grades resulted in her getting picked as did her Jewish heritage but the latter had been a rarity. But it had been a happy life, a life that in the course of a single day had been completely destroyed. Tears filled the young girl's eyes as at last a single emotion manifested it her dead eyes: rage. It built as that single day replayed in her mind; how she had awoken to find herself some kind of freak who could move through solid objects. It went downhill from there culminating in a single hellish moment when her parents and the house she had grown up in was destroyed in what the papers were calling a freak seismic event.

"Excuse me?" A deep but feminine voice asked from behind, "This doesn't seem to be the kind of place where you should be leaving things unattended." Kitty whirled around trying to pull out a pair of keys to defend herself. Standing there was a stern looking woman in a gray, no nonsense business suite and and half moon glasses. The older woman watched with a raised eyebrow as the frantic teen girl tried to pull out a pair of keys from her pocket sending loose bits of change everywhere, "I intend you no harm child. My name is Raven Darkholme and I'd like to help you." Raven explained as she handed her the backpack, the girl took it with a cautious look on her face. One of the first things the young girl had learned in the short time she had lived on the streets was that people only offered someone like her help if they wanted certain favors in return. She hadn't been propositioned by a woman before but Kitty guessed their was a first time for everything.

"What kind of "help" and what would I have to do?" She asked bitterly instead of a sickening grin most people gave her at this point Raven's features seemed to soften,

"I'm many things Kitty," The girl's eyes widened in fear and she took a few steps back, "but pedophile is not one of them." The younger brunette glanced the poster behind her wondering if Raven recognized her. It didn't list her as Kitty,

"Are you a cop?" Raven smiled and shook her head,

"I'm like you." one of Raven's right eye flashed gold as the skin around it turned blue. The shapeshifter was used to frightening people but was caught off by the look of seething hatred the girl gave her.

"The last _freak_" She spat,"who offered to help me killed my parents!" Tears streamed down her face at this point. Raven's face hardened as she spoke in tone cold enough to make metal brittle,

"Young lady I want to make something very clear: if you ever call me that again I will end you." Kitty had the feeling that this women was serious, she might have bolted altogether but Raven pulled something that made her stay. It was an envelope full of money, "I'd like you to listen to my offer, if you're not interested you can take this and walk away. Twenty thousand dollars," Kitty's eyes bugged out in disbelief, "if you're very careful you'll be able to sustain yourself," and then off-handedly added, "For a while anyway. You could find a cheap hotel or an apartment with a landlord that won't ask questions maybe for extra cash or other services. From what you said earlier I'm guessing you know what I'm referring too." The shapeshifter's tone lost it's playful indifference as she more and more realized in some ways this young girl's situation was similar to her's at that age.

"I'm not a whore!" Kitty snapped at the shapeshifter, tears threatened to start running again,"I'd rather die then let some pervert fuck me for pocket change!"

"You say that now child but speaking from personal experience I know that despair and desperation erode pride fairly quickly. I spent my teen years as a prostitute and a thief, maybe when it gets cold enough or maybe when you simply get tired of scrapping by you'll do it." Raven held up the envelope of cash, "If I had offered you this in exchange for your body would you have walked away?" Raven asked, "Be honest." Kitty looked angry for a moment before her shoulders slumped,

"I-I don't know," she said weakly before looking up at the woman, "What do you want?" Raven seemed composed on the outside as far as Kitty could tell. On the inside the shapeshifter was pleased, the girl was putty her hands at this point. Now was the time to make her pitch,

"I work for an organization interested in recruit those with our kind of talent. A place where your power could save lives," Altruism had always been Xavier's first line of attack when trying recruit. Raven wondered what the old cripple would say about her making use of his MO? The young girl seemed slightly thoughtful but Raven understood that guessed other things were on this girl's list, "But more importantly you'll be able earn back your self-respect I can see the self loathing on your face," Kitty felt like this woman was looking right into her, "you've been forced to do something unpleasant to have avoided starvation. Maybe your only a virgin in the most technical sense or maybe you've resorted to stealing." Raven noted her look of shame upon her face upon mentioning the latter, "If you take may offer you'll be able to able to hold your head up high again Katherine."

"Would I have to do anything illegal?" Raven shook her head,

"No, on the contrary what we do is quite sanctioned though secretively of course. You'll be required to sever what few, if any, ties you have left to your old life." The girl started crying again, Raven wished she chosen her words more carefully. She had the impression Pride hadn't had time to properly process everything that had happened to her. Raven sighed and hugged the sobbing girl who at first froze but quickly returned the embrace, "Whatever path you choose Kitty," Raven said gently as she wiped a tear from the young girl's eyes, "There won't be any room for tears, I know this all to well. I spent more years then I care to remember alone with the pain and the anger."

"Did your parents die too?" Kitty asked, Raven's expression turned cold,

"My parents did not handle my changes very well, that is all I have to say on that subject. In the aftermath of _that,_" She practically spit out the last part, "I found myself in a situation very similar to the one your in now. I know it's hard for people like us who have been so wronged to accept help but consider my offer."

"Who helped you?"

"A man named Abraham," Raven's tone was almost reverent,"I'm over a hundred and fifty years old and I've never met anyone else like him." The girl's blue eyes widened in surprise upon hearing how the old this woman was,

"_Well she's a shapeshifter of some kind." _She mused,_"I guess it's like the werewolves in Twilight: her powers probably keep her young forever or something like that." _

"Was he..like us?" Kitty asked, eager to learn more and to take her mind off her troubles.

"No," She answered shaking her head,"Abraham was human. But he was among many other things a brilliant scientist, he helped me understand that my powers were the result of evolution not the supernatural." Raven stared at her hand which turned blue, "That I wasn't a monster or an abomination. We're people Kitty, regardless of what others say." The brunette didn't say anything for some time, eventually she wiped her tears and stood up,

"There really isn't any point in me taking that money is there." It was more of a statement then a question, Raven shrugged,"Whatever you want me to do, it like, can't be any worse then living like this."

"It won't be an easy life," Raven cautioned, "There is a chance you might be killed but if you do everything you're told you'll survive." Kitty looked somewhat hesitant at this point,

"I don't know if I'm strong enough for something that dangerous." Raven placed a hand on her shoulder,

"I think your stronger then you realize, I'm frankly amazed your even functional after everything you've been through." Kitty just shrugged,

"My dad fought in the first Iraq War, my grandpa survived Auschwitz, my great grandparents survived those camps the Russians built."

"The pogroms?" Raven supplied, Kitty nodded,

"Compared to that like what do I have to complain about? I don't know if I'm as strong as they were but I have to try right?" She pulled out a small silver Star of David, "I really thought about throwing myself off a bridge but I'm the last of my family. We've survived everything that's been thrown at us" Kitty tried to think how best to put it,"I don't want to be the one who gives up." She looked up at the older woman, "I'm ready to go Ms. Darkholme." Raven glanced at her watch,

"We have just enough time to get something to eat, interested?" The girl gave her a dubious look, "It's not innuendo." Raven said irritably,

"Sorry Ms. Darkholme," Kitty said as they started walking off together, "I'm just kind of hesitant and no offense but you do kind of look like a..." Raven looked at her with a raised eyebrow,

"A lesbian? I'm actually bi," once more Kitty looked at her apprehensively, "For God's sake I have children your age and a lover!"

"The first guy who tried to hire me had a wedding ring and mentioned he had to pick his kids up from daycare!" She retorted and then calmed down, "But I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."

"It's fine child," Raven said the young to her car, "After dinner I'll have to explain a few things to you." The girl nodded,

"Okay, there are a few things I want to get that belonged to my parents."

"That can be arranged." Raven said to which Kitty nodded tightly,

"There's one more thing I want." Kitty said very quietly,

"What is it child?"

"M-my parents were good people," She said while trying to hold back the tears, "They were freaked out a little about my powers but they still loved me. They were my family and he killed them," The young girl took a deep breath before speaking. Her tone was very calm; "I want Lance to pay for what he did." Raven smiled coldly,

"That can also be arranged, in time."

**Hellsing Manor, London...**

Despite knowing that her mother loved her Rogue at moments felt like her mother was cold and demanding at times. Kurt never seemed to agree with her on this, a fact Rogue attributed to Kurt being a mama's boy. As the young woman wiped the blood from her lip she now had the feeling that it was because Kurt had known Integra Hellsing most of his life while she was only now getting acquainted. In the two hours Rogue had known her the noblewoman she had proven herself to be something of a real "See you next Tuesday". Integra walked across the training mat toward her with a condescending look that was really pissing her off.

She was a tall, stern looking woman with long, luxuriant platinum blonde hair that went past her waist yet didn't seem to impede her fighting skills in anyway. She looked down at with her icy blue eye that had Rogue envisioning the ocean in some far off Arctic wasteland while her dark complexion had her wondering if this woman was part Indian or Arab. She was powerful and confident, intimidating and beautiful all at once, Rogue wasn't sure if she hated or envied this woman, "Your younger brother is twice the swordsman you are." She drawled,

"_I fucking hate her." _Rogue decided as picked up both herself and her blade off the ground, "Well he's got more practice then Ah do and other advantages lahke bein able to fight with three swords at once while hanging from the ceiling!"

"I hear you best him in hand to hand combat. I also feel the need to point out that he's never once bested me." Integra stated, "I'm not interested in excuses girl, get up and let's see if we can correct your form and more importantly: your attitude." Rogue glared at the woman, "I really thought Raven would've taught both her children respect for their betters."

"Betters!" Rogue snapped, "You honest to gawd thank yer better then meh!" Her accent seemed to become thicker the angrier she got,

"Yes." Integra replied evenly, "Would you rather insult me or channeling that anger into actually improving your skills? If you can show a modicum of improvement I'd like to use you as a field agent."

" Really?" Rogue did a respectable masking her surprise as sarcasm, they both raised their blades.

"I have plenty of combatants but considering you'll be able to absorb memories I think you'll be suited to intelligence gathering." Integra explained as they resumed their duel "Ideally I'd send you to areas where strange things have been reported with Walter or your mother acting as your handler." Rogue gave her an incredulous look,

"Walter? The old pervert who gives meh little brother porn for his birthday?" Integra blinked several times before groaning as if in pain,

"Despite his age and his...moral lapses he is a very capable field agent."

"Ah don't know how it works here but in the states he'd get registered as a sex offender." Both women lowered their blades since the mood of the moment had been ruined. Integra had a somewhat apologetic look that looked quite foreign on her.

"I am sorry for his inappropriate actions does and I vow to speak with him at the earliest opportunity. Is your mother aware of this?"

"Gawd no! She'd kill the butler for givin those things to him and she'd skin meh brother for keepin them." Integra looked even more surprise,

"He keeps them?" Clearly torn between shock and disgust, Integra had always considered the young man to be the embodiment of everything a young gentleman should be, "I'm rather...disappointed in him." To Rogue's surprised she really sounded it,

"Kurt keeps most them because he doesn't want to hurt the man's feelings." Rogue said defensively,

"Most of them?" The American shrugged,

"A few he does keep for," She looked extremely uncomfortable at this point, "well the reasons most boys keep magazines lahke that." her normally pale face was fairly red at this point, "A few under his mattress at that age is pretty normal."She then shuddered, "Your butler on the other hand has issues believe me, Ah looked at some of the creepier stuff before Kurt stored it away and Ah don't normally say this but Walter seriously needs Jesus in his life."

"Walter's Anglican." Rogue snorted, she a few things about different religions thanks to Kurt and didn't think much about most them. She always tried to be sensitive to her brother's spirituality, this woman on the other hand...

"Yeah the church some glutton set up so he could get away with having his wives murdered and imprisoned" Rogue spat,"there's a faith built on strong moral values." Integra looked like she had been slapped, she wasn't very proud of how the Church of England had been founded and that was a fairly accurate description of Henry VIII but the Knight was still deeply offended. In Integra's eyes Rogue embodied everything that was Rogue with today's youth that needed to be corrected. In Rogue's eyes Integra embodied everything that was wrong with adults that she hoped to never become. This probably wasn't the beginning of a beautiful friendship, oh no not in the least.

**Back in the States Sometime Later...**

Looking at herself in the mirror of the hotel room she and Raven were staying Kathrine at feeling somewhat human. After a shower, a hair cut, and some fresh she felt like a new person. Her hair was now done in a short bob cut that made her look somewhat like the Uma Thurman character in _Pulp Fiction_. She wore a dark blue long sleeved shirt and khaki pants, they weren't perfect fits since Raven had been forced to guess at her sizes but they were better then the rags she had been wearing. Pride was a little unnerved Raven had known to do all this though and would make a point asking the blue woman about this when they got to England. The door of the room opened revealing Raven in her human form,

"Are you ready to go Kitty?" Kitty looked at herself one last time before walking out not quite sure who was staring back anymore.

**Author's** **Notes: **Hey folks sorry about the technical difficulties with uploading this one. Well I hope you enjoyed this even if it's not my best work I admit.

On another note check out Baxyratty's Warning: Hitchhikers Maybe Escaping Nazis a delightfully dark and twisted Batman/Hellsing crossover. 


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**: **Of**** Introductions, Iscariots, and One Mr. Ishida**

**Disclaimer: I Own Nothing!**

**Hellsing Manor...**

"We're like, in a dungeon." Kitty said quietly glancing at the stone walls of the dark corridor. She had only landed in England a few hours back and had just finished being interviewed by her new boss Integra Hellsing. The petite brunette strongly suspected the Englishwoman wasn't quite right in the head. Considering Integra was now leading her and some goth with bleached bangs through a dungeon using only the light of her cigar Kitty was becoming more certain of it, "Like why are we in a dungeon?"

"Do ya actually have a valley high accent?" The goth asked in disbelief, Kitty glared at the other teen.

"It totally beats sounding like Hannah Montana!" To her unending delight she heard the goth gasp,

"Ah sound nothing like that tramp you little yanke-" The flash of a muzzle and the bark of a handgun silenced the two. Integra's passive features were illuminated by the glow of her cigar, the two teens stared at her in wide eyed terror.

"My apologies, I thought I heard a rodent. It was difficult to hear properly between the two of you." Sir Hellsing looked somewhat thoughtful, "It has occurred to me that I didn't properly introduce you to one another. Katherine," She gestured with her pistol to the visibly frightened girl from Illinois, "This girl, for reasons I could care less about, is known as Rogue." the goth found her desire to argue curbed by the firearm pointed at her, "Come along now girls, we mustn't waste anymore time then we already have."

"That woman's insane." Rogue muttered in genuine terror, Kitty nodded in agreement. Not sure if the other girl could see her she quickly added,

"Totally, let's not do anything that like piss her off again." The two teens wearily followed the mad Englishwoman through the rest of the corridor. They remained silent until Rogue could see the end of the corridor ahead,

"So why have ya taken us down here?" Integra bristled at the fact Rogue hadn't addressed her properly. She fully intended to make sure Raven's daughter learned proper respect one day but for now she'd let it slide. She turned around with a rather unpleasant smile on her face,

"As you know there are many monsters our organization is tasked with destroying." The Knight took a moment to enjoy her cigar before continuing, "But above all others the vampire is out most hated enemy." She declared and pointed into the room, "Behold: the vampire!" Two by two torches lit up illuminating the main room of the dungeon. In the center of the room was throne and seated upon it was a man in red around whom the shadows seemed to dance of their own accord. In a white gloved had was a glass of ruby liquid Rogue guessed (and hoped) was wine. Thanks to an odd trick of the light and the fedora he wore the vampire's face was covered in shadow save his orange tinted glasses which reflected the flickering torchlight.

"Good evening master." He purred in a deep, velvety voice that gave Kitty goosebumps.

"_He actually sounds pretty sexy." _She thought, her cheeks warming slightly. Rogue was having similar thoughts though she did a better job of hiding it.

"What an unexpected pleasure," the two teens felt his gaze on them,"why have you brought two sweet young virgins before me?" Kitty felt her cheeks get warmer, out of the corner of her eye she see Rogue's face was was also red with anger and embarrassment "I regrettably suspect they weren't brought here for me to feed on and pleasure." Both girls stepped back as fluster was replaced with fear,

"We sure as hell weren't ya fuckin' blood sucker!" The Goth yelled, his gaze fell squarely upon her. A grinning maw of ivory fangs could now be seen.

"A fiery young woman with dual colored hair, dark clothing, and a backwoods American accent? You must Raven's adopted child, no one ever told me how well developed you were." He commented before glancing at Kitty, "That must make you the little Hebrew ghost girl then." He said in a colorless tone that made Kitty bristle,

"Do you have a problem with me being Jewish?" The vampire chuckled,

"I have no problem with that Katherine" He said with a wave of his hand, "But you should know that vampire hunting is a poor choice of profession for your people." Kitty was terrified of this monster but wouldn't back down, she really getting tired of people pushing her around. Part of her would always wonder if she had stood up to that creep Lance Alvers then maybe her parents would still be alive. Kitty swallowed her fear and placed her hands on her hips,

"Why?" She demanded,

"The cross is the most effective shields against my kind." He chuckled maliciously as he slowly rose from his throne. His pale aquiline features visible, a wicked Cheshire grin of shark-like fangs, "But they won't work for you," The Vampire pointed at Kitty and declared, "the price you pay for your ancestors rejecting Christ!"

"Enough slave!" Integra barked, "I tire of listening to that antisemitic vitriol!" She had brought the girls down here to see how truly unpleasant vampires were, not to encounter yet another disturbing facet of Alucard's personality. The vampire still possessed many of the traits a noblemen from the 1500's; he could be civil and formal when he wanted (but he seldom wanted too) but more often then not he embodied the cruelty and pettiness of his age. No matter how how often he feigned being a chivalrous gentleman Integra had learned long ago that like many of his time he saw women as objects. From the way he made his fledgling dress to his acts of predation against Lucy Westerna and Mina Harker. Integra had known of his disdain for Muslims but this was an unpleasant surprise,

"It's anti-Judaic not antisemitic." Alucard stated as if he were a teacher correcting his student,

"They don't sound any different!" Rogue said stepping forward, she might not have liked this other girl but there somethings no one should have to put up with. Kitty was both surprised and touched by the other girl stepping up for her.

"Anti-Judaism is a dislike of the Jewish religion and is the older and may I add understanding of the two." Kitty's mouth hung open to..to...well "surprised" didn't seem adequate. Her anger quickly boiled up to over,

"Understanding!" Kitty yelled, the vampire on the throne spread his hands,

"You chose to be Jewish." He looked contemplative for a moment, "Where was I? Ah yes; Antisemitism emerged in the 1800's when religiously motivated persecution of your people began to seem quaint in the era of Darwin and the Industrial Revolution. People found a new, more rational reason to dislike Jews with the advent of eugenics. You went from the followers of the faith that betrayed the son of man to a race that threatened to pollute the genepool." Alucard cackled wickedly,"Who says bigots aren't progressive?" The two teens stared at the vampire completely speechless,

"I order you to silence, Alucard!" Integra demanded before turning to face Kitty, "I apologize for my servant's actions, my ancestor used the power of the occult to bind him to our service. Not even the strongest magics though can do much for an unpleasant personality."

"Alucard!"Rogue exclaimed, "I thought he was D-"

"My ancestor stripped him of his old name and titles." Integra interjected, Rogue though was positively livid,

"I've heard of you!" The southern girl spat, "Yer the asshole who told meh baby brother there was no Santa Claus!" Alucard didn't cackle or even deny it, instead he rolled his eyes,

"He was twelve," Alucard said in an exasperated tone, "He really should have been able to figure out on his own."

"I do hope this has at least dispelled any romantic ideals popular culture has instilled in your minds." Integra said as she left, the two teens didn't have to be told to follow

"Totally, I am so Team Jacob now!" Kitty shouted back towards Alucard's chamber,

"Team Jacob?" Integra asked sounding confused,

"The werewolf from _Twilight_." Rogue explained,

"Werewolves are actually extinct and were scarcely any better. The last confirmed werewolf was in Warsaw back in 1944 fighting for the Third Reich." The Englishwoman explained,

"Are all vampires and werewolves evil?" Kitty wondered trying to wrap her mind around the ideal of a Nazi werewolf. Personally she preferred Edward and Jacob,

"No, but always remember the "good" ones are the exception the rule." Integra explained,

"Like that Seras woman my mother mentioned?" Rogue asked, Kitty had no idea who that was,

"I suppose she would would fall into that category."

"When do we get to meet her?"Kitty asked eagerly,

"Tomorrow evening I'm afraid, she's out on a mission. Now come along girls the grand tour has scarcely begun." The teens glance wearily at each other wondering what insanity awaited them in the house of Hellsing.

**Raven Darkholme's Quarters...**

Raven was on the bed in her room feeling fatigued from the trip feeling pleased with her success. She hadn't even changed into more casual wear, Raven was still wearing the form fitting black top, matching fatigues, and combat boots she wore on missions. She did miss her old white dress but had discarded years ago it out of fear of the effect it might have on her son and his view on women. There was also the fact her soldiers had a hard paying attention to her when they were entertaining visions of bedding her.

Mystique thought about the girl and how good of an operative she'd be. Kitty was a little emotionally damaged but sound mental health wasn't exactly a prerequisite to being a successful vampire hunter. Helping the girl track down and kill this Lance Alvers would be cathartic for her though. But the girl would need considerable training before being ready for revenge or field mission. Slowly Raven allowed these worries fade away willing herself to enjoy the peace. Her eyes were closed, her mind was drifting until she felt someone lay next to her. A familiar hand caressed her cheek, "I glad your back." Irene whispered planting a soft kiss on her lips. Raven opened her eyes and stared into face of her lover suddenly not feeling tired at all.

"I'm glad to back my love." Raven replied as she climb on top of her paramour as she traced a finger across Irene's lip, "I'd like to show you just how glad." She said as her hand began slowing went from Irene's lips down to her chin and neck towards the swell of her-

"Raven wait!" Irene said urgently sitting up, the blue woman was practically throw off. She looked at the other woman feeling somewhat hurt until a very familiar flash of yellow appeared and both women were tackled by something warm and fluffy,

"Mother, you are back!" Kurt exclaimed happily as he hugged her with the strength of a juvenile Anaconda. If Raven wasn't being suffocated by her over affectionate son then she would be beating her head against the nearest hard surface for forgetting one of Kurt's oldest habits. Whenever she would return from a trip or an especially long mission he would always act as if he hadn't seen her in years. When he was smaller it was very adorable, nothing could be more heart warming then returning from often horrific missions and to have her little bundle of fur port right into her arms, so full of love. It was a habit that hadn't changed over the years, unfortunately Kurt's size had considerably. Add to it that whenever they were stateside Kurt would also port his sister as well resulted in many bruises. Mystique couldn't bring herself to say wasn't still adorable, just suffocating.

"I foresee your mother turning even bluer if you don't release her." Irene said sounding fairly amused, she had managed to disentangle herself from the other two and was now off the bed. Kurt did as he was asked much to his mother's relief and went over to give Irene a hug, albeit gentler then on he had given her. She felt of Kurt's face and smiled,

"You've grown so much." Kurt grinned brightly,"I can only imagine what a handsome young man you've become my boy." Some of that bright cheer seemed to fade from Kurt's face, like sunny sky marred by a single dark cloud. Any irritation Raven might have felt towards him was gone. Kurt had made some progress regarding his self esteem issues but enough. She went over to her and hugged him,

"He has grown into to be a very handsome young man." She told Irene while looking down at Kurt with a warm smile. He gave a seemingly genuine smile that might have fooled anyone else but her. His golden eyes weren't as bright as they normally were and his tail was limp on the ground.

"How did the recruitment mission go?" he asked changing the subject much to her displeasure. Raven mentally swore she was going to have do something about his self esteem issues on of these days but for she'd let it go,

"I was able to locate the girl and convince her to join the agency." Kurt's tail twitched ever slightly,

"A girl?" He asked curiously, Raven raised an eyebrow at the cautious optimism creeping through him, "Vhat's she like?"

"Her name is Kitty Pride, she's around your age." The tail was now up and swishing back forth,

"Zhere's a girl here?" He pointed down at the floor for emphasis, "In zhis house?" Raven sighed at the look of nervous excitement on Kurt's face. This was something she hadn't really thought of her son's reaction up until now. Kurt had never been around a girl his age before save his sister. Raven tried very hard not to think about some of the more...awkward moments between her children. Getting back to the matter at hand she decided it best just to level with Kurt

"Yes," Raven answered and held up a hand to held the deluge of questions she were coming, "and the past few weeks of her life have been an absolute hell. Her parents were murdered and she was living on the streets when I found her. She hasn't even been able to fully process everything that's happened to her up until this point." Her tone was a little firmer then she intended it to be,

"Mien gott!" He exclaimed as his eye went wide. Kurt couldn't imagine anything worse then loosing your family. He hung his head low,"Perhaps I'll just make myself scarce."

"I'm not saying to avoid her!" Raven shouted causing her son to practically jump out of his fur. She took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose, "I'm certain she could use a friend just be sure to temper yourself." He nodded,

"Yes mother." He told her respectfully,

"Good," She replied before kissing him on the cheek,"I promise we'll have time to spend together tomorrow but right now I'm very tired from my trip." Kurt nodded respectfully,

"Of course mother." He said before teleporting out of the room.

"I hope your not too tired." Irene said coyly,

"Of course not my love," Raven said, the seer couldn't help but notice her lover's tone was distant, thoughtfully, " But I wonder...Katherine Darkholme" she muttered,"it does have an elegant ring to it." One of the things Destiny loved about Mystique was her ability to take her by surprise. Despite her often strict demeanor Raven had an impulsive streak that flared without warning. Sometimes for the better...or not.

"Are you intending to adopt the girl?" Though she couldn't see it Raven was shaking her head,

"I was more thinking of her as a future daughter-in-law." The shapeshifter clarified, "Kurt's position with Hellsing is cemented, a proper suitor is the only thing left to take care of as far as his future is concerned." Destiny sighed knowing she needed to reign the other woman in. Raven had grown in a time when parents far more often then not decided what their children would do and whom they would marry. Sadly their children's lives had required far more long term planning but this was going to far,

"You think Kitty is the right choice?" Irene asked sceptically, more often then not she had had to an indirect approach to making Raven see the flaws in her less sound plans.

"Not as she is now of course," Raven replied,"she needs to grieve her loss and of course my son being who is will make a point of comforting her. Of course she will no doubt find it very endearing." Mystique became more animated as she went on, "That's the best part his compassion will do most of the work, you and I will only have to give a few helpful nudges here and there. The right advice when he asks it of us-"

"He may not come to us for advice," Irene warned, Raven looked taken a back at that,

"We're his parents, who else would he ask?" She clearly sounded hurt,

"His sister?" Irene suggested not wanting to mention Walter or any of the soldiers he occasionally socialized with were also good possibilities, "They've always confided in one another."

"Of course, perhaps she should be brought in on this endeavor." Raven had been wanting to spend some quality with her daughter, the shopping trip to London had been fun but didn't really make up for lost time. Initially she had planned on having Rogue help with ensuring Maxwell's immediate demise but this would probably more to the girl's liking,

"I think she would be interested in seeing Kurt with someone. But I think you should think before going any further with this plan." She urged, "If Kurt develops feelings for this young woman we should certainly support them both. But what you're speaking of borders on outright manipulation," Irene said as she placed a hand on Raven's shoulder "Enemies should be manipulated, not the children in our care." She felt Raven's shoulder's slump, "You could very well wind up hurting him deeply in the long run.. At the very least all your hen pecking may wind up driving them apart rather then closer." To Raven's surprise Irene then smiled "You don't need to manage every aspect of his life, If you remember my own mother tried very hard to force an arranged marriage on me when I was his age." Raven grinned as understanding dawned,

"Whatever did you do?" The shapeshifter asked coyly as she wrapped her arms around the brunette,

"I gave up my maidenhood to a mysterious private detective who haunted my dreams and to add scandal to intrigue we ran off together." Irene whispered in Raven's ear, her lover surprised her once more with a snort,

"Maidenhood? I'm certain the detective in this story was taken aback by your...skills." Raven's tone was accusing,

"It's called natural talent dear," Irene said as she started nuzzling her lover's neck, "You were my first."

"Really? I'm fairly certain you knew things I didn't know that night."

"It's possible I had the foreknowledge of what would please you." She admitted,

"Do you know what would please me now?" As it turned she certainly most certainly did...

**In yet another part of the Manor...**

Kitty and Rogue had forgotten or at least forgiven their disputations after the encounter with Alucard. At the end of the "Grand tour" Integra lead them back to their living quarters and stated the two teens would be roommates. Despite Rogue's expressed displeasure their new boss's decision was finale, Kitty decided to try and make the best of it, "So was it true what tall, red, and wicked said about you?" Kitty asked hoping to start up a conversation. The Goth was sitting on her own bed with a book titled _Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil_. Rogue glanced at her,

"I was adopted." She replied curtly wondering if the other girl was going to make something of it. Kitty's expression was more curious then anything else,

"What about your brother, I think your mom said his name was Kurt, was he adopted?" Clearly she wanted to talk, Rogue guessed this girl had been the chatty, gossip type.

"_We're roomin' together so we might as well get know one another." _With a quiet sigh Rogue made a mental note of the page she was on and closed the book.

"Kurt's her child by birth." She answered and pulled a photograph out of one of her suitcases. It was a photo of her and Kurt from last Christmas, they sitting side by on a stone bench in the snowed -in backyard of Irene's house in the Austrian countryside. Rogue smiled at the photo, she wore virtually every piece of winter-gear available while Kurt was wearing nothing but a pair of shorts thanks to his winter coat. Rogue handed the picture to Kitty, her blue eyes widened,

"I guess he takes after your mom." Kitty tilted her head to the side, "Is that a tail?" she asked in disbelief,

"What of it?" Rogue asked her eyes narrowing, Kitty handed the picture back to her,

"It's just a little freaky." Pride mentally kicked herself for not thinking before she spoke. Rogue was glaring daggers at her, "I'm really sorry!" Katherine said quickly,"I'm still getting used to all of this." The Southern goth said nothing and went back to her Southern Gothic novel. She was trying desperately to think of something to say. There was a soft knock at the door,

"Rogue?" A voice were a strong German accent spoke,

"Come in little bro," Rogue said casting a single gray eye towards Kitty who froze on the spot. The door opened and in came the blue devil-like boy she had seen in the picture. He was wearing a maroon button-up short-sleeved shirt and a pair of blue jeans. In his hands he held some violets planted in a ceramic pot, Kurt noticed her immediately. He froze waiting the scream most people loosed when they saw him for the first time. She seem to be trying to say something but couldn't seem to form the words properly. Kurt could see that that she unnerved by his appearance, he wanted to say something but he found himself tongue-tied. Something about the her eyes kept distracting him, they were almost almond shaped and a very soft shade of blue. The blue of a spring sky, such a pretty color. His heart rate was going up as tried to remember how to speak.

"_Dammit all! You faced down Anderson you can give a girl some flowers! Offer your condolences and leave!" _Kurt took a deep breath and asked: "Are you Kitty Pride?"

"Y-yes." She answered uncertain of what would happen next. Being handed flowers was that last thing she expected,

"I'm Kurt Darkholme," He introduced himself in solemn tone and a slight bow, "I vished to offer mien condolences for your loss." At a loss for words Kitty took the lowers and watched as Kurt's tail went into his pocket. A second later it pulled out a piece paper with some words scribbled on it, "These are instructions on how to properly care for them." Kurt explained as he placed the paper next to her,

"Thank you." Kitty said softly and hugged the pot close to her, "They're very pretty." He gave her a relived smile and another bow,

"I'm very glad Frau Pride, if you two vould excuse me I have business with Valter."

"Whut do ya need to talk that creep for?" Rogue asked, Kurt seemed hurt at her tone.

"He's not a creep, I've learned a lot from him over the years." His foster sister rolled her eyes but said nothing else, "Anyways I'm going to talk to him about expanding my arsenal, I vas thinking of knife of some sort." Kurt said as he left, after a moment Kitty quietly got up and placed the pot in the window.

"What did he mean by your loss." Rogue asked,

"My parents were killed a few weeks back." Kitty said tightly and started tearing up. Rogue winced, the girl clearly had been through hell. She honestly didn't what she'd do if something happened to her family. Rouge was about to say something but the other girl cut her off, "This was really sweet of him." She said as she examined the petals of the plant,

"He'd be your best friend if you'd let him." Rogue said with a smile that fell fairly quickly, "Most folks don't give him that chance."

"I'll try, I promise," Kitty said, "Could we be friends too?" That took Rogue by surprise, the other girl stared at her with those big blue eyes so full of hope. Hoping this wouldn't turnout to be a case of "no good deed goes unpunished" she answered:

"Um sure." The other girl practical bounced over to her and hugged her. Aside from the fact that her lethal energy draining abilities could kick in at anytime Rogue had never been one for affection, "Stop hugging meh or Ah'll change meh mind!" Kitty let go of her immediately, the girl picked up the picture of the Darkholme siblings from earlier.

"So...you grew up with this stuff." Kitty stated, "What was that like?" Rogue glanced forlornly at her book knowing she wouldn't get back to it anytime soon.

**Vatican City, Rome, Italy...**

It was midnight and two figures stared at one another in mutual loathing in the shadow of the ancient obelisk at the heart of Saint Peter's Square. Though he was smiling politely Enrico Maxwell, the silver-haired head of the Iscariot Agency felt nothing but contempt for the pale skinned Asian youth. The dark-haired bespectacled teen was Uryu Ishida, last or at least one of the last of the Quincy, a group as zealous as his own when it came to hunting the many unholy monsters that stalked the world. Behind Ishida was his apprentice; a young teen of Amerindian decent named Dani Moonstar. Vatican Intelligence wasn't certain how she came under his tutelage but she was decently skilled at the Quincy's craft. The Iscariot leader gave a contemptuous look at the small silver chain and cross on the girl's wrist.

In the distant past the Quincy had been started out as a heretical order of Christian priests with an interest in arcane knowledge and demon hunting, their use of the cross as their emblem of their group and in the design of their artifacts was one of the few indications of this heritage that could still be found today. When Constantine the Great gave support to the Catholic Church the Quincy, like many other fringe sects, fled eastward. It was in these lands that the Quincy began studying the teachings of Nestorius, Zoroaster, Mani, and Buddha losing their Christian identity over time as a result. The bulk of the clan had wound up in China and Japan by the middle ages with a few branches in Germany of all places, records still weren't clear how that happened. There was also a record of at least one Quincy master serving as a court magician under the Kommenos Dynasty in Constantinople, he was later on killed during sacking of that city during the Fourth Crusade after taking out several hundred knights. Such cases though were very rare, for the most part they completely removed themselves from political affairs focusing instead purely their unending war against demons and other such monsters.

Maxwell though had little real interest in these histories save the insight they gave him in to the mind of the sorcerous archer and his student. He would have loved nothing more then to snuff out the last remnants of the Quincy but Enrico was hoping to play off one enemy against another. The Italian priest smiled and greeted his guest in English: "It is a pleasure to welcome the Quincy to Rome." Uryu remained impassive while Dani smiled,

"Thank you Father, it's a very lovely city." She said trying to be friendly and not think about what Mr. Ishida told her about these people,

"Why did you call this meeting?" Ishida asked bluntly,

"Straight to the point, an admirable enough trait." Maxwell said and handed the boy a file with the emblem of the Vatican stamped on it, "Are you familiar with the Neyaphem?" Uryu nodded and hesitantly took the file, at first he skimmed it's contents but started to slow down.

"You are certain of this?" Enrico nodded gravely,

"Anderson acquired a sample of the boy's blood when they clashed in North Ireland some time back." Uryu allowed an insufferable sneer to grace his face,

"Your most powerful paladin failed against a single boy? My grandfather once told me your order was far better at supporting tyrants and butchering the helpless rather then actually fighting demons and undead." Enrico gave him a venomous smile,

"In case you missed it oh vaunted Quincy the boy is under the protection of Hellsing." Ishida flipped a few pages, "They even gave the boy and his wretched kin human status." Maxwell added with disgust,

"So it would appear." Ishida said dryly, "I wasn't aware they allowed Alucard to create a new fledgling."

"Who's Alucard?" Dani asked her teacher curiously,

"A vampire the Hellsing agency enslaved and augmented to hunt other vampires." He explained, "If there ever was a dangerous monstrosity that should be put down." Uryu said as he handed the file back to Maxwell, "However I'm not some common assassin, I have more pressing concerns." Ishida said before turning to walk away,

"You should know we have found several others." Uryu stopped, "If they are not dealt with you know it will be the beginning of the end." Maxwell pleaded thoroughly despising the desperation in his voice, "That boy almost never leaves their headquarters as far as I know and the one time he did he had that abomination with him. As loathe as I am to admit it you may actually be the only person aside from Anderson able to match El Nosferatu in battle. Do this for me and I'll arrange the return of certain artifacts from your order." A pair dark eyebrows rose above Uryu's glasses,

"Are you that desperate?" The priest resisted the urge to spit in the quincy's face,

"Determined, not desperate." Enrico replied coolly as his confident demeanor returned "If you won't do it then I shall find another way. He has an adopted sister I'm given to understand he's quite fond of," Both Quincies looked thoroughly disgusted,

"You have no honor." Uryu spat to which Enrico sneered and replied;

"I am a disciple of Judas Iscariot, mine is only the ends. How it is accomplished?" He simply shrugged, "Is irrelevant to me, killing this child of Hell will avert the end of days. That is my only concern, you killing the Neyaphem will spare the life of a young woman who's only sin was being adopted to serve as this thing's playmate!" He exclaimed while holding up the photo of Kurt Darkholme.

"You're a horrible person!" Dani yelled, Enrico smiled at the girl,

"And you are a filthy little savage." Her brown eyes widened, to his joy she looked as if she had been punched in the stomach. Said joy ended when Uryu grabbed him by the throat,

"Apologize you worthless maggot!" Enrico was surprised by the boy's strength but wouldn't let that deter him.

"Mr. Ishida don't," Dani pleaded placing a hand his arm, "He's not worth it." Uryu turned to face his student, she looked ready to cry. A sight that made him want to snap the deranged clergyman's neck right there despite her pleas for mercy. The sight of a red dot appearing on her forehead gave him pause, he kept his face composed to avoid frightening Dani. By himself he could've handled Maxwell and what ever back up was present, but Dani wasn't at that skill level yet.

"What kind of example are setting for your student?" Maxwell chided despite the constricted windpipe as several more sharpshooters drew beads on the girl's vital spots. The Quincy released his grip on Maxwell's throat, glaring at the priest he picked up the file, "You will find two first class tickets to London in that file, enjoy." The two Quincies slowly began walking away, Maxwell picked himself up feeling very satisfied. Things hadn't gone as smoothly as he had hoped but such was the way of things. With Kurt Darkholme's death virtually assured he could start dealing the bigger picture. Mutants were becoming more numerous and it would be only a matter of time before their existence became common knowledge.

What a wondrous day that would be; the fear mankind would experience. For to long the liberals, the humanists, and the secularists maintained a stranglehold on the perceptions of man. They had worked so hard to convince people that the fantastical and the supernatural were non existent. The Nephilim's descendants would be the first to shatter those views. As governments would try but fail to deal with the fear and panic the Church would provide man and mutant alike with the leadership it needed.

Maxwell brushed aside the concerns of the swarm of security personnel determined to dote and fuss over his bruised throat. He was far to elated to be concerned with physical pain, he had a spy in the ranks of the Hellfire Club and he was making arrangements to place a source within the student body of a certain human rights advocate. By the grace of God he would goad the mutant factions towards open conflict, perhaps down the road he would allow the masses to learn that even deadlier things lurked in the shadows. It did seem like a good future as far as Maxwell was concerned, a bright future indeed.

**Author's Notes: **Just to let you know thier will be no appearances by any Shinigami or probably any other characters from Bleach. As for Dani I really took a liking to her character in the recent run of New Mutants and thought being a Quincy would suite her quite well. I will go into how she became Uryu's student later on, peace out!


End file.
